So Here We Are
by othfan326
Summary: 4 years after season 4.  Lucas and Peyton are still together for now  Nathan and Haley are still happy.  Brooke left California shortly after arriving that summer, and cut off almost all ties to the past. Major BL, some NH, little PJ i dont own oth..duh
1. Prologue

Prologue:

It's June, four years after high school. Nathan and Haley graduated a few months before, but Lucas, Brooke, and Peyton never went to college.

Lucas is a very successful writer. His first novel came out almost two years ago. (after a struggle to find a publisher) and has spent many months on the New York Times Bestseller's list. He now has a small apartment in Manhattan because he spends so much time there with his editors. He is still dating Peyton.

Peyton is mostly living in Tree Hill, though she goes to New York with Lucas occasionally. After her internship in California she worked for a few companies in the music industry before realizing that wasn't getting her anywhere. She started her own label, but is having trouble finding artists who will sign with her.

Brooke Davis is the new hot fashion designer, and she has been for the past two years. She famous and seems to have the perfect life. She's been in New York for almost four years. The only person she's kept in contact with over the past four years is Haley because she "chose to leave the past and all its pain behind her."

Nathan and Haley are still happily married with their son Jamie and currently living Tree Hill. Nathan is waiting to find out if he gets drafted to the NBA (the draft takes place at the end of June). Haley has been trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life now that college is over. Pursue music? Teaching? Just be a mom? The only problem is that she has to wait to see what happen's to Nathan's dream before she can figure out her own. But Nathan? He couldn't be a better husband right now because he's being supportive and understanding

The first part is in New York. Flashbacks will explain a lot.


	2. Come Together

"And so we beat on, boats against the current, BORNE BACK CEASELESSLY INTO THE PAST"—F. Scott Fitzgerald.

"Why do you look so bored?" a male voice said. He was watching Brooke as she stared out the window of a limo and at the city nightlife.

"Because this is going to be just like every other party I've gone to this month. Why are we even going Ry?"

"Well," Ryan started. "Because the woman who's hosting has been nice enough to name you one of the New York time's hottest 30 under 30; which means that if you want to stay on that list, you will go to the party she invited you to."

Brooke just shrugged, obviously not interesting in the party.

"Aaaand, because I'm your bestest friend and you promised to take me." He said with a grin on his face.

"I really hate you, you know that right?" Brooke hissed.

"Yeah, I love you too," Ryan said.

The limo pulled up to the party.

"Let's get this over with," She said.

"Oh please," He said getting out of the limo. "You know you'll have some fun. You never know who you can see at these things." He winked at her and led her inside.

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Peyton was staring at the now half empty glass as she sat at the bar. She felt Lucas walk up and sit next to her.

"Hi," was all he said.

There was an uncomfortable silence between them, one that has been getting worse for two years. The past few months have almost been unbearable, so they resorted to listening to other people's conversations. There was the sleeze who was hitting on the innocent girl, the drunken pair, and the pair where only one was drunk and the other was trying to get laid. After a while things seemed to get quiet again. Lucas and Peyton just continued to stare at their glasses. Lucas was about to say something when a man walked up next to him.

"Can I get vodka on the rocks?" The man asked. "And something really strong for her…she's gonna need it tonight." He added to his order.

"Was that really necessary? I mean was that your plan? Get me drunk so that I'll agree to drag you to another party?" The woman who walked up next to him asked.

She had an all too familiar voice.

"Absolutely," The man replied.

"Well don't expect me to give in to anything tonight. I'm said my hello's which means I'm going home." she said. Lucas and Peyton were now listening intently.

"You're crazy you know that? This is one of the hottest parties in the city and you want to go home. You have some real issues Brooke!" the man said.

With that Lucas and Peyton both quickly looked up at the couple next to them.

"Oh my god," was all Brooke managed to say.

"Brooke," both Lucas and Peyton were barely able to get the name out.

After a long moment of silence Ryan finally stepped in.

"Hi," He said in an upbeat voice as he held his hand out. "I'm Ryan."

Lucas took his hand after a moment. "I'm Lucas, and this is Peyton."

At the mention of their names Ryan raised his eyebrows and shot an amused look at Brooke.

"So," Lucas swallowed hard. "Are you two…?"

"Hah! No way in hell," Ryan said in a still upbeat voice because he was trying to lighten the situation.

Lucas and Peyton nodded their heads. Brooke was still stunned.

"So," Peyton finally started to speak. "It's been a while." She said, stating the obvious.

"Yeah…" Brooke finally spoke too. "I'm really sorry, about everything that happened. I just…I just had to go."

Peyton nodded, trying to make it seem like she understood what happened.

_Flashback_

_"Brooke!" Peyton called, walking into a house. I'm back!" She put her bag down and searched the house for Brooke. Finally she made her way into the kitchen and saw a note on the counter. _

_"Hey P. Sawyer,_

_ By the time you read this, I'll probably be on a plane going somewhere else. I'm so sorry that I had to leave like this, but it's what's best for me. I need to leave the past behind; I need to learn how to move on. I thought I was stronger but I'm not, and so now I'm running again. I'm sorry. I hope one day you can forgive me. I'll always love you and you'll always be my best friend._

_Brooke"_

_Peyton knew something was missing. "Hoes over bros" she thought. It wasn't in the letter, and Peyton knew why; Brooke was trying to leave her love for Lucas behind. _

"So I guess you two are still going strong," Brooke said. Her tone was more pained than cold like everyone had expected it to be. Whenever Brooke was hiding her heart she turned to anger. Not anymore, she was too caught off guard to put any walls up that fast.

Lucas and Peyton didn't say anything. They just looked down.

After another minute of silence (a minute that felt like an hour to them and anyone watching), Brooke took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, but I gotta go. It was, it was good to see you guys," Brooke said with a tear in her eye. She turned and walked away from the bar and out of the room.

The three stood there not knowing what to say next. Lucas kept watching the spot where Brooke disappeared. Finally Peyton nudged him towards the door. He looked at her with a confused expression on his face.

"Go" she mouthed.

With that Lucas headed for the door after Brooke.

Lucas walked down a long hallway that led to the exit of the club. He spotted her about three quarters of the way down the hall.

"Brooke!" He called out.


	3. Disintegration

"Wonder why I'm so caught of guard when we kiss.  
Rather live my life in regret then do this.  
What happened to the love we both knew?  
We both chased." –'Disintegration' by Jimmy Eat World

"Brooke!"

She recognized the voice immediately. All she wanted to do was run away, pretend it was all a dream, and try once again to move one with her life and forget Lucas. But she couldn't run away. He always did that to her; make her head and her heart disagree. She wanted to run but she couldn't, she was frozen. Then she heard his voice again. This time it was softer.

"Brooke," Lucas whispered as he put a hand on her shoulder and turned her around. He could see that she was already crying and that made his heart break.

"Brooke," he repeated.

"You shouldn't' be here Luke," Brooke finally spoke. "You should be inside with your girlfriend." She said coldly. Her walls were back up.

The comment hit him hard. He felt guilty, hurt, and pained at how hurt she was at the same time. He tried to ignore her. "Why did you leave?" was the only thing that he was able to say.

"You know why," she said.

"Please Brooke, I need to hear it from you."

"Well I can't tell you. I can't go down that road again. I'm sorry." 'Sorry' is something that she's been saying too much in lately.

She began to walk away when Lucas grabbed her arm and spun her around into a kiss. His lips crashed into hers with passion, with longing, and most of all with love. At first she didn't know what was happening, but she soon realized and began to kiss him back, allowing him to kiss her more deeply. Her past came roaring back to her; all of the memories, the good ones and the bad ones. Then she realized what was really going on and she pulled away with a horrified look on her face.

"You can't do that. I will not be that girl," Brooke said.

"I'm sorry, I just had to. I have to tell you….I love you Brooke," Lucas finally said the last four words.

Brooke had waited forever to hear him say those words again. Every night that she cried herself to sleep out of loneliness and missing Lucas, she wished that he would come after her and say those words. But now that he was saying them, reality set in.

"No! Lucas, please don't. Please," Brooke was now pleading with him not to continue. "You're with Peyton. You can't do this."

"But I love you. Why can't I tell you that?" Lucas asked. He was now desperate to tell Brooke how much he truly loved her.

"Because," Brooke started. She had to take a deep breath so that she didn't start crying right there. "Because it hurts too much."

Brooke slowly turned around and walked away, leaving Lucas standing there with a shell-shocked look on his face.


	4. A Little Less Conversation

Hours later Lucas walked back into his apartment. He had spent the last few hours walking up and down the streets of Manhattan. Though he didn't know exactly what he was doing, in the back of his mind he hoped that he would miraculously find Brooke.

"Hey," Peyton said as she turned off the TV and turned towards Lucas.

"Hey," he simply replied as he took a seat on the couch some distance away from her.

After a moment Lucas was about to begin speaking when Peyton cut him off.

"I need closure," Peyton said. Lucas didn't understand what she was talking about. "I know this is over, you know it's over. I mean come on, it's been over for a long time…but we- I just need to talk about it so that I don't go on wondering what happened."

Lucas looked uncomfortable. He didn't want to talk about how badly he had been screwing up.

"Fine, I'll start," Peyton said realizing his hesitance. Peyton soon realized she didn't know what to say either. What do you say when you're ending a four year relationship? Finally she found the words, but they weren't the ones she expected to say. "I just need to know if you're still in love with her."

Lucas was taken aback. He didn't expect the question to be so blunt.

"Yeah," He finally spat out.

"Good, well then you need to go after her." Peyton said with conviction.

Lucas gave her another confused look.

"Okay, clearly you're not getting my point." Peyton said. "Look Luke, I know this is hard to hear, I mean it's hard to say, but you and I both know that this hasn't been going anywhere for years. We thought we were meant to be, but we're not, and because of that mistake we lost the people we truly love. an—"

"I'm sorry," Lucas finally cut in.

"You shouldn't be. We stayed in this for all the wrong reasons but now we can finally move on. We finally have a reason to."

Lucas nodded. They stayed quiet for a while. Finally Lucas came up with something to say.

"I know you have those meetings this week, and I know how important they are to you, and I'm going to be here for a few weeks for some stuff so uh, I guess I'll just sleep on the couch. When we get back I'll just move my stuff to my moms." Lucas didn't speak with harshness or anger. He spoke with finality yet he was sincere with his words. He didn't want to hurt Peyton.

"Okay," Peyton said. There was a long awkward silence between them. "Goodnight," She said getting up and walking towards the bedroom. "And Lucas?"

"Yeah?"

"You better be prepared to fight like hell for her. It's not gonna be easy." With that Peyton closed the door to the bedroom.

Lucas couldn't believe how Peyton had reacted. I mean he was in love with her best friend…well ex-best friend. She cut off all ties to her past a long time ago….or so he thought.

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"Look, you need to calm down," Haley's voice rang through the room from the speaker-phone.

"How the hell am I supposed to calm down! Did you not just hear what I told you?" Brooke was panicking now. She saw him for two minutes and felt like her whole world was crashing down in front of her face.

There was another moment of silence. Brooke hated silence and it seemed to be following her everywhere lately.

"You still there Hales?" Brooke asked softly.

"Yeah, just thinking." Haley said, she was clearly tired. Anyone would be, it was 1:30 in the morning. "Look, with everything you told me, I understand why you're…acting the way you are," Haley chose her words carefully. "You need to find him and confront him. You need to tell him everything, you need to tell him how you feel about everything. It's the only way for you to get through this, if you bottle it all up you'll regret it." Haley was trying to convince Brooke not to start running from her problems again.

"I know, its just…hard," Brooke said, she was on the verge of tears again but she blinked them back.

"Do you want me- do you need me to come up there? I can be there tomorrow and stay for the night if you want." Haley suggested.

Brooke was stunned by her kindness. "Tutor girl!" Brooke was finding it harder to hold in the tears now. "Thank you so much…but I need to do this on my own, if you come up here…I want to see you, it's been too long, but you need to be with your family."

"Brooke are you sure?"  
"Yeah…look you should go back to sleep, I'm sorry to wake you at this hour," Brooke was finally calming down.

"Don't worry about it. I'll call you tomorrow okay?"

"Thanks. Tell Nate and Jamie I say hi."

"I will,"

"Night Haley."

"Night Brooke,"

After they finished their call Brooke walked over to her kitchen counter and slowly laid her forehead on the cold granite.

"I'm so screwed!"

"I wouldn't use the word screwed, I would just say that you have a whole lotta issues right now," Ryan joked from across the counter. He handed her a large mug of tea. She gladly took the mug and then took a small sip, relaxing as she let the warm liquid run down her.

"Thanks," Brooke said sarcastically. "But really, thank you for staying with me tonight."

"Of course. Now, when are you going to go see him?"

"No way are we doing this tonight. We'll talk tomorrow," Brooke said, wanting to avoid talking about her situation further.

"You have to talk to me about this," Ryan protested.

"I know, I will, I promise. But I'm tired, we'll talk tomorrow," She repeated.

She gave him a kiss on the cheek goodnight and headed into her room. "Lock the door on your way out!" After getting ready for bed she found herself laying there, staring at the ceiling. All she could think about was that kiss. It felt so good, but it was wrong; she convinced herself of that. Lucas was with Peyton. That's just how it was. She was alone and in love with a guy she cut out of her life a long time ago. But why did he kiss her? What did he want from her? Did he still love her? The questions ran through her mind as she tried to silence them. She just continued to stare at the ceiling, not knowing that Lucas was doing the same thing. He was asking the same questions. Was it possible that she still loved him? Would he be able to win her back after all these years? He would need something incredible to get her back.


	5. Everything I Once Had

The next morning Lucas woke up on the couch in an empty apartment. He made he way to the kitchen and found a not on the fridge.

"Went to my meetings. I'll be back later. Start thinking of a plan…"

He still couldn't believe how supportive Peyton was being. She had to be hiding something, was all he thought. They had talked about his feelings of why their relationship didn't work, but they never talked about hers.

Lucas quickly silenced his thoughts about Peyton and started to think about how he was going to prove his love to Brooke. This was his chance, after all these years, and he wasn't going to screw it up with some half baked apology.

While reading the newspaper and drinking his coffee, it slowly dawned on him. He would always read the book reviews first, his was still there under the best sellers list. Then he would flip through the rest of the paper, after all he did want to keep up with the world's events. He slowly went through the op-ed section when he came across the letter to the editor…LETTER. The word flashed through his head.

He jumped up from the counter and ran towards a closet and unlocked it. It was the only place that was locked because it was the only place that he could never let anyone else see. Inside he rummaged through some old boxes. His old basketball jerseys, early versions of his book, photo albums, and then he finally came across the right box. This one held some of the most important things in his life. Brooke's letters…and his letters. Though Brooke had the letters he wrote her during high school, she didn't have the ones that he had written over the past two years. There were 25 more letters in the box. He had written one a month since that fateful night.

Lucas took out his cell phone and dialed a number quickly.

"Grant?" Lucas said into the phone. Grant had become one of Lucas' closest friends over the past two years. He worked at the company that published Lucas' book, and as if by fate, they met one day and quickly became friends.

"Hey man, look can we meet for lunch somewhere? I need a huge favor….Thanks man, I'll see you there…alright…bye."

Grant had big connections if you wanted to publish anything, and right now, Lucas needed to publish something very quickly.

Lucas closed his cell and headed to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day.

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Brooke sat in her office facing the large glass windows. Her offices were by Columbus Circle, so she had a breathtaking view of Central Park.

"Wow," Ryan said from behind her. He was sitting on the leather couch on the far end of the office. Brooke had just explained everything about Lucas and their past to Ryan; about how he's the love of her life, about how he kissed Peyton twice, about how she pushed him away for all the wrong reasons, and finally she told him about how she ran away from her past and has been scared to look back ever since.

"Yep," Brooke finally managed to say.

"So you haven't seen him since that summer?" Ryan asked.

"Not exactly," Brooke said meekly. Ryan raised his eyebrows.

"You know what, don't even explain that. I don't want to know. You have one hell of a past Brooke Davis."

Brooke nodded her head.  
"You know, this explains a lot though."  
Brooke gave him a questioning look. She was keeping her words to a minimum today.

Ryan got up and walked over to one of the book shelves. He pulled out a binder and flipped to one of the pages near the front. The binder had every interview Brooke had ever given, all of her magazine articles and so forth.

"Ah here it is," Ryan said and then he began to read an excerpt. "'Brooke Davis, the new up and coming designer dishes about her company, success at such a young age, and love…yada yada yada…," Ryan continued. "Here it is. This is the part where you explain why you're so buried in your work—" Brooke finally cut him off.

"Yeah, I know."  
"You said that you were buried in work because you never dated, and you never dated because, and I quote, 'My heart has taken a lot already, right now is about my clothes, my heart can wait.'"

"Look, can we just drop it?" Brooke was now becoming annoyed.

"Fine, you know you're going to have to see him."

"No I won't." Brooke said matter-of-factly. "I've successfully denied my feelings for four years, I don't need to give in now."

"You may not want to go see him, which is ridiculous if you ask me, but you ARE going to see him whether you like it or not…I made some calls, he's one of the hottest 30 under 30….He's going to be at that gala thing in two weeks."

Brooke sat there silently with a look on her face that showed how scared she was to see him again.

"Look, you can deal with that later. Right now you have to get back to work. You have a really important show coming up this weekend, and you have a lot to do."

Brooke nodded her head.

"I'll come by for lunch…call if you need anything." Ryan said as he gave her a hug and headed out the door.

He left Brooke with her thoughts about Lucas. She quickly silenced them and threw herself back into her work.


	6. Stranger Things Have Happened

The next week went by in a blur.

Lucas had spent the week calling in every possible favor he could, and it was working. When he wasn't working on his big plan he found himself daydreaming about Brooke. Whether he was lying in bed, walking down the streets, or just shooting a basketball, she was all that he could think about.

Brooke had spent the week buried in her work. Whenever she stopped to think her mind wandered to Lucas; and whenever that happened, she felt like her whole world was about to fall apart around her. So Brooke kept her mind focused on her upcoming show.

* * *

Brooke saw the lights go down; the show was about to begin. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She tried to calm herself, but as her eyes were closed her mind drifted towards Lucas again. Dammit! was all she thought. She shook the picture from her head and watched as her show progressed flawlessly.

The press was everywhere, models and make-up artists were running around. Clothes were getting put on and taken off faster than anyone could imagine. It was complete chaos and Brooke stood calmly in the middle of it all. Photographers were taking her picture, people were frantically asking her questions, but she was unfazed by it all. Brooke suddenly heard someone calling her name. The woman was getting closer with each call.

"Miss Davis!" Brooke's assistant called from behind her. Brooke turned around too see her.

"How many times to I have to tell you?" Brooke asked in a slightly playful tone. "It's Brooke."

"Right, sorry, Brooke. Um there's someone here to see you."

"I can't talk to anyone right now. The show's almost over and I have to get out there." Brooke responded.

"She said that you would say something like that. She told me to tell you that she wanted to see you B.Davis," Brooke assistant told her.

Brooke turned around with a shocked expression on her face.

"Where is she?"

"Right here," Peyton said, turning a corner to face Brooke.

Brooke was stunned to see her there. She didn't know how to react so she stayed silent.  
"Wow, I'm impressed," Peyton said. "The old Brooke would be yelling at me at the top of her lungs by now."

Brooke smiled weakly. "I guess I've changed."

"No, that's just your guilt keeping you quiet."

"I'm so sorry Peyton, I didn't know he was going to do that, I mean he just came out of nowhere an—"

"Let me guess? He planted one of the famous Lucas Scott kisses you."

"You didn't know?" Brooke asked, still a little shocked at seeing Peyton there. She had completely forgotten that not only was she in the middle of a show, but there were about two dozen people standing there watching and listening. Brooke didn't like her personal life anywhere near her business life, and now the two were colliding head on.

"No, I didn't know. He didn't tell me, but he didn't have to. I saw it in his eyes when he walked in later that night." Peyton stayed silent for a minute and was about to continue when Brooke spoke again.

"I'm so sorry. God! I mean I flip at you for this in high school and now I—"Brooke was starting to raise her voice but Peyton cut her off this time.

"Look, I'm not here to yell at you, okay? I'm to tell you the truth, something that should have been confessed a long time ago."

Brooke now had a worried look on her face, but she stayed silent and let Peyton continue.

"I'll be on a flight leaving for Tree hill in about two and a half hours. Lucas won't be joining me and that's because we finally made a clean break. It's been over for years, we just never admitted it." Peyton was now starting to get emotional. "We held on for all the wrong reasons…we didn't want to admit that we lost the people we were meant to be with so we stayed with each other……..we never had that spark that you two had, you know? It was never really meant to be the way we thought it was….and I've known for two years…since the night he saw you."

_Flashback—two years ago _

_Lucas was sitting at a crowded bar in another club during another event that he didn't care about. His book was finally being published, his dream was coming true, but it didn't feel like it was. He was at a party; it was the first one that he was invited to now that he's begun to make a name for himself. _

_He didn't have a good buzz quiet yet, but he wanted one by the end of the night, so he took another swig of the drink he had in his hand. He scanned the room looking for Grant. He finally spotted him flirting with two girls on the other side of the room. Lucas silently raised his glass to him and then took another sip. _

_He continued to survey the room, looking for something to take his mind off of his life. As if she was meant to be there, Lucas did a double take and saw the beautiful brunette across the room. She was entering the room with a couple people by her side, no man with her. The fact that she wasn't with anyone surprisingly settled Lucas. He stood up from his seat at the bar and never took his eyes off of her. Though all he wanted to do was go up to her and hold her, make sure she was really there, make sure that she would never leave him again, he was frozen. _

_Then something, as if by fate, happened. Brooke looked around the room and eventually spotted Lucas. They're eyes locked as if they were the only two people in the room. They stood there in a stare that felt like hours but in reality was only a few seconds. Brooke was the first to break it. She ducked her head and quickly ran out of the club, trying desperately not to cry and break down at the sight of the man she still loved. Lucas just stood there dumbfounded. _

_A half an hour later Lucas was back in his hotel room. He walked into the bathroom and took out his cell phone. He didn't want to wake the presumably sleeping Peyton who was actually listening from the bed. _

_"Hales?" Lucas asked. "Yeah, it's me, I know it's late… Look, um, I saw Brooke….what do you mean you know?...you've been talking to her this whole time and you didn't tell me?...well how is she?...oh…yeah…………of course I'm still in love with her!...look, I gotta go before I wake—before I wake Peyton up…yeah, I know…well she's gone, again….I'll see you when we get in tomorrow night…say hi to Nate and Jamie for me please…thanks…night." Lucas hung up his phone and sat in the bathroom for another few minutes. Peyton was still in the bed trying to comprehend what she just heard. Finally he got back into bed and she closed her eyes, making sure that he didn't know that she heard him. _

"You knew about that?"

"Yeah, it kinda all went downhill from there."

"Pey—"

"No, please, let me finish. Luke and I love each other, we do, but if we were IN LOVE with each other, then there would be no need for this conversation. Brooke…he's in love with you, he always has been and he always will be."

Brooke couldn't believe what she was hearing. She waited over four years to hear those words and now she doesn't know what to do with them. Brooke was snapped out of her daze when Peyton began to speak again.

"You shouldn't be apologizing to me for this. We both screwed up. Badly. But that doesn't mean that we should suffer for the rest of our lives. You and Lucas? You really are meant to be together, you're both just scared."

There was a long pause before Peyton continued.

"He's gonna fight for you again, and he's never going to stop Brooke. He's got something big up his sleeve, I don't know what, but you better be ready for it."

Brooke opened her mouth to try to say something, but she was literally speechless.

"But I do have one question for you," Peyton said quietly this time. "And as your best friend, I think I'm entitled to the answer."

Brooke nodded.

"Why did you leave the way you did? I mean you left a note!"

"I was scared. I needed to try to move on, but I couldn't do that if I was with you all the time….I just felt like I had no other option. I know that's stupid but—"

"Damn right it's stupid! Do you not remember everything we've been through?" Peyton asked half sarcastically. Brooke stayed silent as Peyton began to recite the list that Brooke loved so much. "Two dead moms, 3 absentee parents, psycho stalkers, jail time," Peyton began to recite the growing list of things they survived together. When she saw the smile creep onto Brooke's face she stopped. "So you do remember?"

Brooke smiled softly.

Peyton looked at her watch and sighed. "Emotions finally start to heat up around here and I have to jump on a plane. Looks like I'm pulling a Brooke Davis."

Brooke laughed a little for the first time in a while.

"One last thing, Brooke," Peyton said. "You're the one for Lucas, and he's the one for you. Don't screw that up this time around."

Peyton was about to leave when Brooke stopped her. "What about you? What about your one?" Brooke asked nervously.

Peyton took a deep breath. "I lost my one a long time ago…during a trip to savannah." That said it all. She lost Jake that night and she knew it.

Peyton was about to turn around to go when she stopped and looked directly into Brooke's eyes. "Hoes over bros?"

"Buds over studs." Brooke said confidently.

And in a split second Peyton was gone again. Brooke stared at the spot where Peyton disappeared until someone tapped Brooke on the shoulder.

"Brooke? The shows over, it's time for you to go out." Her assistant said from behind her.

Brooke nodded her head and headed out with a fake smile on her face. The truth was that Brooke didn't know what to think about anything anymore. All she knew is that Peyton was oddly nice to her considering everything that had happened, she knew that she loved Lucas, and she knew that most of her personal life was just thrown out for everyone to hear, and pretty soon anyone who wasn't there would know about it too.


	7. For What it's Worth

"We could have had such a damned good time together."

"Yes," I said, "Isn't it pretty to think so?"

—Ernest Hemingway

The Wednesday after the fashion show….

Brooke finally worked up the courage to see Lucas. She was headed over to his apartment with a trail of photographers. After the Peyton incident at the show they had been following her like a hawk. On the way over Brooke only had one thing on her mind and that was Lucas. More specifically though, she was thinking about what Peyton said. 'he has something big up his sleeve'. Brooke was starting to doubt this because she hadn't heard from him since she saw him at the party that night.

Brooke finally got out of the cab and entered Lucas' building. She quickly told the doorman who she was there for and made her way to the elevators. Once she was upstairs she made her way to his door and stopped in front of it. All she could think was 'you have to see him now, it'll be better this weekend if you see him now'. She stood there for a moment trying to convince herself that she was doing the right thing.

Brooke was about to knock when the slamming of a door startled her. She looked down the hall and saw someone locking their door and heading towards the elevator. Brooke calmed herself quickly and then knocked on the door. It was barely half a second before Lucas opened it because he was about to head out.

"Brooke," Lucas said. He was shocked, nervous, and excited to see her all at the same time. When he saw a glimpse of her smile and her famous dimples he couldn't help but smile too as he felt his heart skip a beat. There was so much he wanted to say to her.

At seeing Lucas smile like that Brooke's quickly faded. All though she loved his smile and the fact that she could make him smile like that, she knew what was going on with her. She would see him smile and he would say something all too perfect and before she knew it she would be in his arms kissing him again, and she couldn't have that right now.

"I'm sorry, this was a mistake," Brooke managed to choke out. "I should go."

With that Brooke quickly turned around and ran to the elevator. She slipped in with Lucas' neighbor and let the doors close leaving Lucas in his doorway more confused than ever.

When Lucas finally made it down the stairs he was more than out of breath. The elevator wouldn't come fast enough so by the time he made it to the street Brooke was already halfway down the block and clearly not in a good mood.

Lucas broke out in a sprint after her. He ignored the photographers that were following her and the people on the street whose attention he had caught by now. He caught up with her much faster than he had expected. 'Adrenaline' he thought.

"Brooke!" he yelled at her. He was surprisingly angry because he couldn't figure out why she would torture him like that; she came to see him and then left without a word.

Hearing Lucas' voice surprised Brooke. She didn't expect him to follow her, which is why she also didn't expect to turn around at his voice.

"Don't do this Brooke. Don't run away again. That won't solve your problems! You can't run away every time you get scared!" Lucas was surprised at the level his voice was at.

"Lucas Eugene Scott! You do not get to yell at me like that! Not after all this time!" Brooke was now yelling too. They were getting into one of their classic Brucas fights with everyone watching.

"Brooke Penelope Davis I can if I want to!" He retorted, but not before cringing at his middle name.

"What do you want from me Lucas?" Brooke asked, her voice had calmed down considerably.

"What do I want?" Lucas asked incredulously. "I want you, Brooke. I just want to hold you and kiss you and be with you for the rest of my life. I love you Brooke and I'm going to fight for you."

Brooke stood there in silence. Suddenly she started shaking her head.

"No…No! You can't just say that after four years of silence."

"First of all, it's the truth and I can say it if I want. Second of all, you were silent too. I'm not the one that left only leaving a note behind!" Lucas could hear his heart beating out of his chest now and he was still trying to catch his breath as he started yelling again.

Brooke grunted in frustration and turned around and started to quickly walk away from Lucas. Lucas started running after her but he found it all too hard.

"Brooke" he was barely able to yell this time. He grazed her arm with his hand as he gave up running. "Brooke I can't chase after you like this."

Brooke turned around and walked back up to him. She looked at her watch.

"Wow Lucas, I think that's a new record time you set for going back on one of your promises to me."

"No Brooke, you don't understand," Lucas said before letting out a violent cough while still trying to catch his breath. "I can't chase after you like this."

Brooke knew what was going on but she was too scared to say anything, so Lucas continued.

"I ran out of my HCM meds a few days ago…and my doctor's on vacation…and I don't have another prescription to get some more…so—" Lucas was still barely breathing correctly when Brooke cut him off.

"You jackass" Brooke started to rant, but she cut herself off and calmed down a little. "Are you crazy? How could you be so reckless? I mean do you have any idea what everyone would go through if something happened to you again?!" she kept yelling.

"Like you would care! It wouldn't matter if I were dead! I mean it's not like you've had anything to do with me in four years Brooke!"

"Is that what you think? Well listen to this Lucas; you tell me how much you love me. Well guess what? I love you too. There was never a time when I didn't love you, so before you start accusing me of not caring, why don't you go ask Haley who she's on the phone with for hours each week. Why don't you ask her who asks about you every other second? What? You don't have an answer to that do you Luke? For what it's worth...I'm sorry." Brooke shook her head and just walked away from him before anything else happened.

Lucas was left leaning on a building, still trying to catch his breath and comprehend what Brooke had just told him.


	8. Author's Note

Hey to whoever is reading this!

Please leave reviews, I would really appreciate them.

I just want to let you know that all of the titles are from songs, so I thought I should take this opportunity to list where I got them from in case anyone was wondering.

Title- "So Here We Are" by Bloc Party

2- "Come Together" by The Beatles

3- "Disintegration" by Jimmy Eat World

4- "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis Presley

5- "Everything I Once Had" by The Honorary Title

6- "Stranger Things Have Happened" by The Foo Fighters

7- "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield (which later became Crosby Stills Nash and Young)


	9. With A Little Help From My Friends

"Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends." –The Beatles

* * *

The next morning Lucas woke up to someone repeating his name, which was odd considering he went to sleep alone.

Lucas flinched suddenly when he woke up.

"Dude relax! it's just me," Grant said with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"How did you get in here?" Lucas asked.

"I have a key, remember? For emergency use only. That, and your doorman let me up cause he knows who I am."

Lucas, who was still trying to keep his eyes open was trying to understand what was going on. "Okay, I'm not dead, there's no sign of a fire, if something bad happened you would have told me already…so what's the emergency?" Lucas asked.

"Well it's not an emergency per say," Ryan said.

Lucas groaned in frustration. "Then what is so important that you had to break into my house this early in the morning?" Lucas asked

"Um, it's 9:30 which isn't that early, and I heard what happened last night, I just wanted to check on you,"

Lucas softened at his explanation. "Thanks…you make anymore coffee?"

"Yeah, there's a cup on the dresser right next to you." Ryan said as if it was obvious.

Lucas looked around for it and found it. "Thanks."

They sat there just staring at each other for a second. Grant was waiting for Lucas to start explaining, and Lucas was waiting for Grant to realize that he didn't want to talk about it. Their stare-down was interrupted by a buzz and then shortly after a knock on the door.

"Put a shirt on, man. I'll get the door." Ryan told Lucas who got up and went to his closet.

In the distance he could hear Ryan ask who the person was.

Lucas came out of the bedroom after hearing the response. "Nate?" Lucas asked, confused as to why his brother showed up at his doorstep. "Is everything alright?"

"I should be asking you that," Nathan said, which caused Lucas to roll his eyes.

"So where are Haley and Jamie?" Lucas asked, avoiding the subject.

"With Brooke, they're gonna stop by later and say hi." Nathan asked. "Now, please explain what the hell happened last night."

"How do you know about that?" Lucas asked.

Before Nathan could reply, Grant cut in. "Um, hello? What's going on?"

"Right, sorry Grant. This is my brother Nathan; Nathan, this is Grant he's a good friend of mine."

"Nice to meet you," They both said politely, but clearly more interested in Lucas' problems.

"Well are you going to explain yet?" Nathan asked as he and Grant turned to face Lucas again.

"Are you going to answer my question?" Lucas shot back.

"Let's just say Haley spent the night on the phone with a hysterical Brooke." Nathan said sternly.

Lucas sighed and then slowly began to explain everything to Nathan and Grant.

Grant was just about to ask him a question when his cell rang.

Grant flipped the phone open and walked to the other side of the room.  
"Thank you for coming Nathan," Lucas said quietly.

"No problem,"

Lucas was about to speak again when he was cut off by Grant screaming 'thank you' into the phone. When he hung up he walked over to an interested Lucas and Nathan.

"Everything's set for tomorrow and Saturday," Grant said. "With everything your doing, this book's sell like Harry f-ing Potter," Grant said with a smile on his face.

Lucas and Nathan laughed at his comment. "Thanks man," Lucas said.

"Okay, can we get out of this place now?" Grant asked.

"Sure, where to?" Lucas asked.

"You know any good basketball courts?" Nathan asked innocently. Lucas just laughed.

"Of course I do."

* * *

" You put the boom-boom into my heart  
You send my soul sky high when your lovin' starts  
Jitterbug into my brain  
Goes a bang-bang-bang 'til my feet do the same  
But something's bugging you  
Something ain't right  
My best friend told me what you did last night  
Left me sleepin' in my bed  
I was dreaming, but I should have been with you instead. "

The words of Wham! rang out through the room as Brooke slowly opened her eyes as she turned off the radio. "Stupid alarm cl—" Brooke began to mumble but someone cut her off.

"That is not the best sound to wake up to," Haley said from the other side of the room.

Brooke jumped at her sudden words.  
"Haley?" Brooke asked, sure she was dreaming.

"Hey there tigger," Haley said with a smile on her face. "Surprised to see me?"

"Yeah!" Brooke exclaimed. "How did you get in?"

"Ryan let me in," Haley said.

Brooke gave her a confused look. "He's here?"

"Yeah,"

"Remind me to change the locks," Brooke joked as she got up and hugged Haley. "It's good to see you."

"You too Brooke."

"So where are Nathan and Jamie?"

"Jamie's in the living room with Ryan and Nathan's uh, he's with Lucas, but he'll stop by and say hi later."

"Oh…" Brooke said at the mention of Lucas' name but she quickly snapped out of her daze. "Let's go see my godson!" She said pulling Haley out of the bedroom.

"Aunt Brooke!" Jamie squealed as he saw Brooke and Haley coming out of the room.

"Jay!" Brooke squealed back as she ran over and picked him up and hugged him. After a minute of how are you's, Brooke put Jamie down and he went back to watching the TV.

"You need to stop breaking into my apartment!" Brooke said to Ryan.

"It's not breaking in if you have the key,' Ryan stated. "Besides you love to see me and I love your coffee."

"So buy your own," Brooke said.

"I tried that, it tastes better when it's yours," He toyed with her. "Besides, I went to the tailor's and picked up your dress."

With the mention of her dress Brooke's mood completely changed and she was once again as cheery as ever.

"Brooke, it's beautiful." Haley said, looking at the dress that Brooke was now holding. "What's it for though?" She asked.

"The 30 under 30 gala thing," Ryan told her.

Brooke smiled at the thought of her newest title, but her smile soon faded.  
"What's wrong now?" Ryan asked.

"Do I have to go?" Brooke whined.

"Of course you do!" Ryan said.

"Why wouldn't you want to go?" Haley asked.

"Cause Lucas is gonna be there," Brooke mumbled in a barely audible voice.

"Ohhhhh," Haley said. "Well you have to go and see him."

"Yeah, besides, in this thing," Ryan said pointing to the dress. "He won't know what hit him when he sees you." He said and winked at her.

They all laughed at the thought of what Lucas' expression will be when he sees her.

* * *

Lucas, Nathan, and Grant were still in Central Park a couple of hours later. It was a weekday afternoon so there weren't too many people there. They were just standing around shooting now. Lucas couldn't play a real game because of his meds, so they just hung around and shot the ball. Lucas sank every shot he took, which made it harder for him to not play a real game at that moment.

"So when do I get to see my nephew?" Lucas asked after a few minutes of silence.

Nathan looked at his watch. "Bout a half hour man, stop asking, it'll just make time move even slower."

"Fine, it's just been a long time."

"I know," Nathan said.

"So how's that supposed to work?" Grant finally joined in.

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked.

"I mean he has to go to Haley and Brooke to get Jamie, what about you? Do you really want to see her today?" He asked, and he had a point.

Nathan and Lucas were silent for a second. They didn't even consider it.

"I'll go alone in a few minutes, and bring Jamie back to your place." Nathan said.

"Smart, simple, I like it." Lucas said with an over exaggerated smile.

"So," Nathan said.

"Okay!" Lucas exclaimed. "Really, that's enough. I've been talking about Brooke and the plans and everything for like two hours! Enough already! Can we talk about something else?"

"What else is there to talk about?" Grant asked.

"You," Lucas said while looking right at Nathan.

"What about me?" Nathan asked as Grant walked away again to make some more calls.

"You gonna talk about this draft thing? I mean it's in less than a week. Aren't you nervous or anything? I mean have you talked to Haley about the whole thing?" Lucas asked.

"It's pretty messed up at this point." Nathan said.

"Just talk to me Nate."

Nathan took a deep breath, debating whether or not to tell him what was really going on. "So here's the deal, and let me finish before you say anything, please," he began. "The deal on the table is for the Knicks, but there is also one for the Bobcats. They're both pretty bad right now so they have early draft picks and therefore I could easily sign with either of them."

"That's not conceited at all," Lucas joked.

"I told you not to interrupt me," Nathan said and Lucas put his hands up in surrender. "So I could really sign with either of them. I know what your thinking, and don't say it. It actually sucks. I mean if I go to New York I could get a lot more recognition and money for that matter. I mean it's the Knicks, who wouldn't want to play for them? But if I sign with the Bobcats, Haley and I can stay in Tree Hill like I know she wants……" Nathan trailed off.

Lucas didn't know what to say.

* * *

"So now that Jamie's gone, can you really tell me what's going on?" Brooke asked Haley as they walked back into her apartment.

"Uh," was all Haley said.

"And don't try to turn this back around at me. I've talked about my feeling enough for a whole year. It's your turn." Brooke said sternly.

"I don't know…it's just that I want Nathan to follow his dream and everything, he really deserves it." Haley said as her expression slowly changed to a somber one. "But at the same time…I do want to stay in Tree Hill, it's my home you know?"

Brooke just nodded and hugged Haley as she saw the tears forming in her friends eyes.

"You're Nathan and Haley!" Brooke said, trying to comfort her friend. "You and Jamie, you guys can get through anything. It's all gonna work itself out…I promise."

Lucas, Nathan, and Jamie continued to play basketball in the park for a while before they headed back to Lucas' apartment. After a while Nathan and Jamie headed back to the hotel where they met Haley. Haley had spent the rest of the day with Brooke, dealing with their problems and so forth. Naley is staying until the draft is over (the NBA draft is held in New York at the end of June which is when and where it is right now in the story).

* * *

The song I used for Brooke's alarm was "Jitterbug" (AKA "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go") by Wham!

I know Nathan and Haley's storyline isn't that great, but it's a Brucas fic so I want to focus on them. But because I do want to include Naley a little this is what I came up with.

please review!


	10. Author's Note 2

Quick note:

in the last chapter, during the first lucas scene, i started referring to grant as ryan by accident. Lucas's friends name is grant, brookes is ryan. sorry for the error.


	11. I'm Gonna Write You A Letter

"i'm gonna write you a letter" is a line from the song "Amsterdam" by Guster. its a great song. please leave some comments for me. thanks!

* * *

Brooke woke up, for the second day in a row, to the sound of someone else's voice. It was Haley's again.

"Uggghh!" Brooke groaned as she rolled over to see Haley and Jamie in front of her. "What are you doing here? And what time is it?"

"It's 7:15, now get up," Haley said seriously.

"Are you kidding me? Why are you here to early?" Brooke asked, clearly not happy with the time.

"I have a surprise for you," Haley said and then saw Brooke's eyes light up at the word 'surprise'. "Actually that's not true, someone else has a surprise for you, I'm just a pawn in the whole plan." Haley explained.

With that Brooke's expression changed from that of a 5 year old on its birthday to a very confused and tired one.

"Why the long face tigger?" Haley joked. "You'll find it…uh, interesting, to say the least."

"What is going on Haley?" Brooke asked.

"You'll see, now go get dressed. Jamie and I are going to see if there is anything edible in this house." Haley told Brooke as she and Jamie left for the kitchen to try to make breakfast.

A minute later Brooke walked out into the rest of the house in jeans and a top.

"That was surprisingly fast for you." Haley said while making eggs for Jamie.

"Yeah, well I want to find out what this surprise is," Brooke said, not even considering the idea of Lucas' plan since she hadn't heard from him in what seemed like a long time. "So where are we going?" Brooke asked.

"Your couch." Haley said simply. "Turn on the TV."

"Huh?" Brooke asked with a confused and disappointed look on her face.

"Your couch," Jamie repeated with a smile on his face. Brooke and Haley just laughed at him.

"Okay, I don't know what's going on, but if you say so tutor-girl," Brooke said as she relaxed out on her couch and turned on the TV.

A minute later Haley and Jamie joined Brooke.

"You ready for this Brooke?" Haley asked.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to be ready for, I mean it's a morning TV show, how surprising could it be?" Brooke said.

"You'd be…surprised," Haley said with a sly grin on her face. "Now just watch."

* * *

"You ready for this man?" Nathan asked, coming up behind Lucas. They were standing behind stage waiting for Lucas to be called out.

"No, but I don't really have a choice at this point."

"Wait," Nathan stopped Lucas. "What do you mean you're not ready? Didn't you plan this whole thing?"

"Yeah," Lucas said. "But I'm really nervous; I mean what if she doesn't see it, or go read it, or what if she just hates me more for it?"

Nathan sighed.

"She's gonna love it. If she doesn't, she's crazy." Grant said walking up to them.

Lucas smiled slightly.

"She's going to love it." Nathan said slower and more reassuringly.

Lucas nodded.

A man with a headset came up to the three guys. "We're ready for you Mr. Scott," He said.

"Well at least someone's ready," Lucas mumbled to himself before hugging Nathan and Grant and following the man.

"Please welcome best-selling author, Lucas Scott!" a loud voice said and the whole audience cheered as Lucas walked out onto the stage.

* * *

"Please welcome best-selling author, Lucas Scott!" a loud voice said and the whole audience cheered as Lucas walked out onto the stage.

* * *

"Haley!" Brooke screamed in a surprising anger.

Haley just laughed.

"Why are you making me watch this?!" Brooke yelled her question. She went to get up and Haley caught her arm and pulled her back down.

"Sit, and watch," Haley said. "You need to see this, Brooke."

Brooke sat back down. She put up an annoyed face but the truth was that she was beyond curious to see what was going on.

* * *

Lucas was clearly nervous, but he quickly shook off his insecurities and broodi-ness because he knew he was going to have to be confident to go through with his plan.

Lucas sat down in a large comfy chair across from the woman interviewing him (imagine a The View/Today show/Good Morning America type of setting…oh and the name is totally random).

"It is a pleasure to have you here." Cathy said.

"Thank you so much for having me, it really means so much," Lucas sad sincerely.

"So," Cathy said directing herself to the audience. "As many of you Lucas is a best-selling author because of his book 'An Unkindness of Ravens'."

Lucas smiled proudly.

"Now," Cathy continued. "Before we get into the real point of why you are here, can I ask you a few questions?"

"Of course," Lucas replied.

"I understand that your first book is absolutely true, every word."

"Every word," Lucas repeated.

"Wow, that's one hell of a high school experience."

Lucas chuckled. "Yeah, to say the least."

"So you left us all with a sort of cliff-hanger, I mean what happens next in this crazy world?" She asked.

Lucas hesitated, he took a deep breath and tried to answer but there just weren't any words. He didn't know how to answer, so he just shrugged.

Cathy laughed a little. "But I have heard that you have a sequel coming out soon?"

"Yeah," Lucas said. "But that was kind of put on hold when I started something else a few weeks ago."

"Which leads us into why you are really here," Cathy said.

Lucas nodded.

"So," Cathy said picking up a book from the table in between them. "This is your new book. When did you start writing this?"

"I started writing it two years ago, but I didn't consider printing it until two weeks ago." Lucas said. "Which is why I should be thanking everyone who helped me. Publishing a book in two weeks is a pretty tough thing to do so I just wanted to tell everyone who helped me how much I appreciate it."

"Two weeks?" Cathy asked, still a little shocked. "So it went on sale this morning, and of course as a huge fan of your previous book, I had to get it right away, and I read most of it before the show started this morning."

Lucas blushed a little.

"So before we get into what it's about, let's start by saying that it's called Dear Pretty Girl, and it's a collection of letters you wrote over the past two years to one person." Cathy said.

"Yeah, I mean they're all different. Some are just my feelings some are out memories, some are begging for forgiveness. There are a lot of them so they're different depending on my mood." Lucas said.

Everyone laughed a little.

"But you wrote them all to Brooke?" she asked.

"I did," Lucas replied with more confidence in his voice.

"That explains the dedication," She said and Lucas smiled slightly. She read the dedication out loud. "'For Brooke, People who are meant to be together always find there way in the end…'" Cathy read. "Wow, that's beautiful, did you come up with it?"

"No," Lucas said much to everyone's surprise. "Brooke told me that when we were in high school." Lucas said, smiling softly again.

"So why are you printing this now? And why so fast?" She asked Lucas, who immediately tensed up. 'This is it,' he thought.

"Uh, well I think it's time that she knows the whole truth about the way I feel about her." Lucas said slowly and carefully. "I owe her that after all this time…after years of silence...She needs to know how much she truly means to me…and the rush is because I saw her two weeks ago and realized that I needed to tell her; I needed to tell her before tomorrow night when I see her again." Lucas said. Everyone was stunned at his confession.

"So uh," Cathy began to speak again. "I think you just broke the hearts of every other woman in this room," She said trying to lighten the mood, and it worked, Lucas snapped out of his brooding state.

"Can I ask why you are using letters?" She asked him.

"Letters have always been really special to Brooke and I," Lucas stated, happier to be talking about their memories. "From my goodbye letter that she of course burned before reading, her letters to me, and then the ones I wrote for her in high school, they've always meant something more to us." Lucas stated. "This way of giving them to her might be a little more extravagant, but I still remember the night she gave me her letters, I remember what she said word for word."

"Which is?"

Lucas closed his eyes and remembered that night. "'There are 82 letters in here, and they're all addressed to you. I wrote them all this summer. One a day, but I never sent them 'cause I was afraid.'" Lucas began to say. "I would continue, but it's a complicated and long story which is all explained in my first book, but it's a little too much to explain here." Lucas finally said, pulling himself out of his daydreams about Brooke. "It's funny, the day she gave me those letters was the day she started Clothes over Bros," Lucas said, but immediately regretted it. Now the whole world would know who exactly he was talking about.

"Wait," Cathy cut in. "Brooke Davis, the Brooke Davis?"

Lucas but up a weak embarrassed smile.

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"So we're just about out of time a—"

"Wait," Lucas said. "There's one more important thing I have to say." Lucas said and then turned to the camera. "Brooke I know you are watching this…thanks Haley. Anyway, at every Barnes and Noble there is a copy of this on hold for you. Please read it….I love you Pretty Girl." Lucas said and smiled softly.

* * *

Haley sat with a smile on her face. Lucas' segment was now over and she was watching a near catatonic Brooke beside her.

"You going to say anything?" Haley asked Brooke who didn't answer. "Okay…Are you going to answer the phone?" Haley asked of the now ringing phone. Brooke didn't move. The call went to the voice mail and they heard Ryan's voice surround the room.

"Holy sh Brooke! Did you see him? I'm on my way over, I'll be there in five minutes. Holy crap woman!" Ryan screamed into the phone and therefore into the whole apartment.

Haley laughed a little. Brooke still didn't say anything. She looked like she was on the verge of tears now though.

Brooke finally got up and grabbed her bag. "I'll be back in 10 minutes." Brooke said as she walked out the door.

* * *

Ten minutes later Brooke walked back into her apartment to see Haley and Ryan talking. Jamie was now watching his own TV shows. Brooke walked over to them at the counter and dropped the book down on the cold granite.

"Thank god," Ryan said. "What does it say?"

Brooke just shrugged.

"You didn't read it?" Haley asked.

"I don't know if I can," Brooke whispered.

"You have to!" Haley and Ryan yelled at the same time. Brooke didn't even flinch at their raised voices, she just continued to stare at the book in front of her.

Ryan cell rang and he told them that he had to go and that he'd be back later. Haley then explained to Brooke that she was meeting Nathan for brunch and that she too would be back later.

In a minute Brooke was left in her apartment alone staring at the book, which is what she did for the next two hours. Then she began to make progress, picking up the book, but then deciding against it and putting it back down.

A few hours later she finally silenced all of her fears and she took the book, sat in her favorite chair, and opened to the first page. She broke out into tears as soon as she read the dedication for herself. Brooke curled up into a ball and began to read…


	12. Do You Wanna Dance, Heartbeats

Title- "Do You Wanna Dance" by the Ramones, and "Heartbeats' by Jose Gonzales

please review!!!

* * *

As Lucas got ready for the party that night all he could think about was Brooke. Haley had told him that Brooke had bought the book, it was just a matter if she read it or not…and whether or not she actually considered what he did a good thing or an annoying thing. Lucas was beyond nervous, all he could do was keep adjusting his tie, as if that would somehow make him feel better. He was just counting the minutes until he would see Brooke again.

When he heard his cell ring he knew it was time and he made his way downstairs to see Grant waiting in front of a cab.

"Remind me why I gave you my extra ticket?" Lucas asked.

"Because I've done way to much for you lately, and because I'm dying to see what happens when you see her tonight." Grant replied matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Lucas said as he got into the cab. "Gotham Hall," He told the driver. (Btw, Gotham Hall is actually a place in NYC, I've been to a few parties there, it's gorgeous).

When they got there Lucas paid the driver as he and Grant stepped out. Grant started making his way past the photographers and into the building.

"Whoa!" Lucas called out after him. "You're not going to ask if I'm ready or anything?"

"Dude," Grant said with a sly smile on his face. "You gotta do this whether you're ready or not…so are you coming in?"

"Yeah," Lucas said, he took a deep breath, and began to make his way in.

* * *

"Are you ready?" Ryan asked. He was sitting next to Brooke in the black town car as they pulled up to the party.

"Do I have a choice?" Brooke asked quietly. She was still reeling from the book.

"Not really," Ryan said, trying to be sympathetic even though he was being a little harsh.

"Then let's go," Brooke said, plastering a fake smile on her face. "And Ry?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for coming with me."

"Anytime Brooke."

* * *

Inside everyone was talking to everyone. It was the ultimate socializing and using other people to your advantage party. Lucas was by the bar with Grant, surveying the room. He finally saw Brooke, and for a moment he couldn't breathe. She looked stunning. Lucas wasn't quite ready to talk to her so he continued to look around the room. There was a band and a DJ, plenty of people were dancing, and plenty of people were drinking, but not Lucas and not Brooke.

It was a large room so Brooke hadn't even seen Lucas yet, but after a half an hour she could still feel his eyes burning into the back of her head. She didn't know where he was, but she knew that he was watching him.

Sometime later Brooke could sense that something was different. The music had died down and she felt that the person she was talking to wasn't really paying attention to her. And then the reason tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to see Lucas. As amazing as she looked, she had to admit that he look really handsome too. Brooke started breathing heavily, trying to put her walls up quickly so she wouldn't break down and cry right there. But then she heard a familiar tune begin to fill the room. She went weak at the knees and any attempt at protecting her heart was put to a stop.

"Brooke," Lucas said quietly. "Dance with me?"

Brooke sighed. "Any other song and I would've been able to say no." Brooke said as she stood and took Lucas' hand as he led her to the dance floor.

"That's why I made sure they played this one," Lucas said with a small grin on his face. Lucas pulled her close and she put her head on his chest, she could feel his heart pounding. Unbeknownst to Brooke and Lucas, they had captured most of the room's attention as they made their way onto the dance floor. At the moment though, they weren't aware of anything going on around them except each other.

As they slowly began to dance to ' Boston' by Augustana, they knew how much they loved each other.

After a minute of dancing in a comfortable silence Lucas took a deep breath. Brooke picked her head up from his chest, knowing there was something he wanted to say.

"Did you re—," Lucas began to ask.

"Yeah, yeah I did." Brooke said quietly.

Lucas was silent, so Brooke continued.

"What you said Lucas, was…amazing." Brooke said.

"There's a 'but' in there somewhere isn't there?" Lucas asked, feeling his heart begin to pick up its pace. "You know I'm never giving up on you right?"

"Luke, you need to know that I love you more than anything in the world…I always have and I always will." Brooke said. By now she had pulled away and there were tears in her eyes.

"And I love you more than anything too. So why can't we be together, why can't we be happy together? Don't you believe that I love you?"

Brooke nodded. "I know you love me Lucas. What I don't believe is that you won't hurt me again." Brooke said as the first tear began to roll down her cheek. Lucas went to brush it away but Brooke moved away from him. "I'm sorry Lucas, but I can't get hurt like that again." Brooke managed to say as she left Lucas on the dance floor and headed for an exit.

Lucas stood there stunned and motionless until someone came up behind him and slapped him across the head.  
"Ow!" Lucas said.

"You deserve it!" Grant almost yelled. "Are you crazy? Go..after..her..now!" He said slowly and loudly.

Lucas didn't even respond; he just ran towards where Brooke had left. His heart was racing but he didn't care; he was going to get her back tonight. He finally caught up with her right outside the entrance where the photographers were waiting…

* * *

When Lucas reached Brooke he was already out of breath. She was standing under the awning of the building. It was already pouring out so Lucas thought that he had Brooke cornered; once again, he was wrong. When Brooke felt Lucas approach her, she could no longer hold back her tears as she stepped out into the rain and away from him. Lucas immediately followed.

"Brooke," Lucas pleaded. He and Brooke were already drenched and he could feel the water spilling down his face.

"What do you want from me Lucas?" Brooke asked as she turned around. She was tired of fighting and it was evident.

"I just want you."

"Please don't say that Luke."

"Brooke, I'm in love with you," Lucas said loud and slow.

"Lu—" Brooke was already crying. "Please, don't say that…it makes this too hard….I'm sorry, but I can't let myself get hurt again."  
"I won't hurt you Brooke," Lucas said, immediately regretting it when he saw the fire comeback to Brooke's eyes.

"You won't hurt me?" Brooke was now raising her voice. "You say that now, but what about in a few months or a few years? What about when you fall in love with Peyton again and I'm the one that gets hurt?"

"I promise you Brooke I—" Lucas couldn't finish.

"So what?" Brooke asked. "You promise me? You promised me you would never hurt me when we were in high school, and look how well that turned out?" Brooke was now beginning to resort to sarcasm, which wasn't a good sign for Lucas. "You can't just kiss me, or write those letters and expect everything to be okay again."

"Please just hear me out Brooke," Lucas begged. His heart was pounding but he pushed his worries about that aside and continued.

"No Lucas!" Brooke's anger was now rising. "Don't you get it? We're back to exactly where we were in high school!"

Lucas looked at her blankly, not knowing how to respond.

"We're out in the rain arguing about Peyton and your letters…except this time it's not going to end the way it did then." Brooke said as she began to turn around.

Lucas took a deep breath and began to speak, knowing he wouldn't let Brooke interrupt him again.

Brooke turned around as he began to speak again. She was looking into his eyes and saw his conviction in what he was saying.

"I know that what I say, what I promise you doesn't mean anything to you now…not after what I did. But it means something to me. You mean everything to me. I just want…I love you…and I know you can't trust what I say, but it's all the truth. I will never hurt you again; I just want to spend my life with you." Lucas said slowly. Brooke was starting to break and they could both feel it. Lucas inched closer to Brooke as he continued.

"Remember how I used to tell you that I'm the guy for you?" Lucas asked rhetorically. "It's true, I'm the guy for you Brooke Davis….but there was something I didn't tell you," Lucas said. He paused before he continued. "You're the girl for me. You're it for me….You are the love of my life, and I'm never going to let you—" Lucas tried to finish, but he couldn't. His breathing became shaky and heavy. "Broo—" Lucas couldn't finish a word, he just grabbed his chest near his left shoulder. "Call 911" was the last thing he said before he fell to his knees and then to the ground in front of Brooke.

"Lucas!" Brooke screamed as she knelt beside him.

The people who were watching them called 911 as Brooke held onto Lucas. She was crying hysterically at this point. They were both soaked; on the sidewalk in the middle of a down pour. The once stunning couple looked tragic as Brooke laid Lucas' head on her lap.

"Please Luke," Brooke was pleading with him. "You have to wake up, please."

All Brooke could do was mumble to him as she waited helplessly for the ambulance to come. The people around them stood shocked and motionless as the sirens could be heard coming down the street.

When they arrive they quickly put Lucas on a stretcher and into the ambulance while someone shot questions at Brooke.

She was a mess and could barely answer, but they managed to get the necessary information out of her; Lucas Scott…22…HCM……


	13. Waiting for Now

Quick note:

thanks so much for the reviews! i really appreciate them all.

The title for this chapter comes from the song "waiting for now" by bryan greenberg (who im sure you all know plays Jake)

enjoy!

* * *

"Brooke? Hey you there?" Ryan asked Brooke. She could barely hear him even though he was kneeling right in front of her. "Look, I have to go outside and let Nathan and Haley in, I'll be right back up." He said softly and then kissed her on the cheek. Then he was gone, and Brooke was all alone again. Grant was outside making phone calls because everyone had already found out what was happening to them. Brooke's phone had been vibrating from calls and messages for the past hour too, but she never answered it; she never even looked at it. She was in a near catatonic state at this point; she wasn't crying anymore, she was in too much shock. The last hour was just one big blur…

* * *

_Flashback- right after the ambulance leaves _

_After the ambulance took Lucas away…_

_"Brooke!" Both Ryan and Grant called as they ran up to a still crying Brooke. _

_"We heard what happened," Grant said. "Where is he?"_

_"They…took him to Mount Sinai," Brooke managed to say between sobs. "They wouldn't let me go with him._

_"Come on," Ryan said, putting an arm around her. "We're going there now." He led her to the car that waited for them and all three got in. "It's going to be okay," Ryan whispered to her._

_"How do you know that? What if he di—" Brooke couldn't even say the word before breaking out into another fit of sobs. _

_Grant took out his phone and called Nathan as Ryan tried to console Brooke._

_When they arrived at the hospital Brooke's state hadn't changed, and it didn't help that there were reporters trying to ask her what was going on. Even she didn't know what was going on._

_When they got to the waiting room and asked for Lucas, they were just told to wait. No one would tell Brooke anything because she wasn't family. Brooke realized how helpless she was, and that's when she silently took her seat in the waiting room and hasn't said a word since._

* * *

When Nathan and Haley (and James) walked into the waiting room they were stunned at the sight before them 

Brooke Davis, Cheery, was a wreck. She was all alone, crawled up into a ball in one of the chairs in the waiting room. Her dress and hair were still wet and you could easily tell she was cold. Brooke just stared straight ahead, not aware of anything around her.

Brooke was the picture of a broken woman at that moment. She was helpless, scared, alone, and most of all in love with a man that just had a heart attack right in front of her.

Haley asked Ryan to go get Brooke some clothes and something to eat from her apartment. Nathan went to go call Karen and everyone else with the 'news'.

"Brooke?" she heard her voice being called. This time it wasn't Ryan, which caused her to look up. Haley slowly approached and sat down next to Brooke.

"Brooke?" Haley asked again.

When Brooke looked into Haley's gaze she broke down again. The tears flowed freely and quickly. Haley quickly hugged Brooke, whispering into her ear that everything was going to be okay, even if Haley didn't know if that was the truth.

"What happened?" Haley finally asked.

Brooke managed to catch her breath after a moment. "I don't know, they won't tell me anything!"  
"Okay, okay," Haley said. "Wait here." Haley said as she stood.

"Please don't leave me Haley," Brooke pleaded.

"I won't, I'm just going to the desk to see what's going on."

Brooke slowly nodded and tried to wipe the tears away.

* * *

A minute later Haley came back with a look on her face that Brooke couldn't read. 

"What happened?" Brooke said, trying to fight back tears once again.

"Um," Haley started. She knew she had to lead in carefully but she needed to tell Brooke right away. "They said that uh, that he had heart complications, they won't tell me the specifics but they said that given the circumstances, it could have been a lot worse. They're brining him back from running tests. They said that he looks fine and that not too much damage was done. He's still unconscious though…they don't know when he'll wake up, they just said that it's up to him at this point." Haley said while trying to hold back tears of her own. "I told them who you are, and they said that you could see him in a few minutes."

Brooke managed to thank Haley and not cry again. She just assured herself that Lucas would wake up. She counted the minutes until they would let her in…

* * *

Five minutes later a nurse came out and told Brooke and Haley that they could see Lucas. 

Brooke and Haley walked hand in hand down the long hallway. It was like any other hospital; and they had made that long walk to a loved one's room too many times to count.

When they reached the door Haley went in, but Brooke froze at the doorway. She stood there looking at Lucas. He looked pale and weak…lifeless. Brooke could feel the tears begin to well up in her eyes. The guy she loved was laying in a hospital bed and it could have been avoided if she hadn't been so stubborn- that's what Brooke told herself.

"Hey Luke," Haley said, standing over Lucas. "I know you can't hear me, but I wanted you to know how much I love you, how much everyone loves you. You need to wake up. Brooke needs you. Please wake up Lucas." Haley said with a tear in her eye. She bent down and kissed Lucas on the forehead and walked out.

"I'm gonna stay with Nathan," Haley managed to say as she left Brooke alone with Lucas.

One of the nurses told Brooke that she should talk to Lucas, that maybe hearing voices, her voice, would help him to wake up. But she couldn't talk to him. She just sat in the chair by his bed and watched him. He looked horrible; he had multiple IVs, beeping monitors all around him, and he looked sick. Brooke felt too guilty to talk to him. What would she say to him? That she was sorry? So Brooke just watched him. After about an hour she drifted off to sleep in the same chair.

* * *

The next morning Brooke could feel someone shaking her shoulder lightly. At first she didn't know what was going on, but as the night's events came back to her she shot up. 

"Brooke!" Karen said. "You scared me."

Brooke threw her arms around the woman standing in front of her. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," Brooke kept repeating.

"Shhhh," Karen consoled Brooke. "It's okay, it's not your fault, he's going to be okay, I promise." Karen whispered to Brooke.

It was beyond Brooke how Karen could be so calm, how she could be so strong at a time like this.

Brooke's thoughts were interrupted when someone tugged at them.

"Mommy?" Lily asked quietly. "What happened to Luke?"

"Um," Karen said, bending down to be at eye level with her daughter. "He's sick now, but he's going to be okay."

Lily just nodded. "Who's that?" Lily said pointing to Brooke.

Karen laughed a little. "That's Brooke…she's a friend of Lucas'"

"She's in all of Luke's pictures." Lily said with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, yeah she is." Karen said. "Um, I'm sure Brooke will want to talk to you later, but why don't you go out with Aunt Haley now?"

"Okay," Lily said and gave her mom a quick kiss. "Bye Brooke!" Lily said. Before she left she went over to Lucas, gave him a quick kiss and headed out the door.

"They're still here?" Brooke asked weakly. Although she slept more than she had expected to, the stress had worn her out and she was still exhausted.

"Yeah," Karen replied. "And more. Mouth, Skillz, and Bevin showed up too."

Brooke smiled a little, and then looked back at Lucas.

"I'm so sorry Karen," Brooke finally said again.

"Brooke, please stop apologizing. As much as you think it's your fault, it's not. It's not your fault Brooke. He loves you, he would never believe that it's your fault."

Brooke wiped away the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes.

Karen finally took a look at Brooke. She looked her up and down and took in her appearance. Brooke was still in her gown from the night before, but by now it was wrinkled, her hair was messy, and her cheeks were still tear stained.

"Brooke," Karen said softly. "You need to change. Go home and get some real rest."

Brooke shook her head. "I don't want to leave."

Karen sighed. She knew that she couldn't convince Brooke to do something she didn't want to do.

"I understand," Karen finally said. "But you have to change," She said, motioning to the piles of belongings on the dresser. "Haley said that Grant and Ryan brought some of yours and Lucas' things last night, but you were already sleeping and they didn't want to wake you."

Brooke nodded and went over to the clothes. She saw some of her things; a tank top, a pair of jeans, her blackberry, and Lucas' book. Then she saw Lucas' things; a change of clothes for when he got out, his ipod, and his Scott Body Shop sweatshirt that both he and Brooke loved. She smiled to herself and then took her belongings to the bathroom.

When she emerged a few minutes later there was a doctor in the room talking to Karen.

"What's going on?" Brooke asked. The concern and fear was evident in her voice.

"I was just explaining what had happened to Lucas," The doctor said. "I'm Dr. Bradley," He said extending a hand to Brooke. He turned back to Karen and gave her a look asking whether or not Brooke should hear what he had to say.

"You can tell her everything," Karen said. Brooke mouthed 'thank you' to Karen.

"Well," Dr. Bradley began. "We've determined that Lucas didn't have a heart attack, but due to the fact that he wasn't on his medication, he did go into tachycardia, meaning that his heart was beating to fast, causing him to pass out the way he did. When he wakes up he's going to be very tired for a while. He'll need to stay here one more night after he wakes up, but after that he needs to be on bed rest for two weeks before he can even begin to get back into his daily life."

"And there wasn't any damage to his heart?" Karen asked.

"Not really," He said. Brooke thought of a different answer to her guilt-ridden self. "He got very lucky, he may not be so lucky next time, so it's important that he stays on his meds from here on out." Dr Bradley said before he was interrupted by his pager. "I'm sorry, but I have to take this. I'll come by later to talk to you again." He said as he shook their hands and left.

* * *

Brooke and Karen stayed silent for a moment, just watching Lucas. 

"Brooke?" Karen said.

"Yeah?" Brooke replied with a raspy voice.

"You don't plan on leaving do you?" Karen asked. Brooke just shook her head no. "Then I'm going to tell everyone to go home or to a hotel or where ever until later okay?"

Brooke nodded.

Karen took a deep breath. "And then Lily and I are going back to Lucas' place."

Brooke didn't expect to hear this. "As much as I want to spend every moment with him, it's been a very long night and morning for Lily and I, she needs to get some real sleep. I'll be back later though."

"Okay." Brooke replied quietly. She hugged Karen who then went and kissed Lucas on the forehead before leaving.

Brooke was now alone again in the hospital. She sat back down in her chair and continued to watch Lucas silently.

* * *

Brooke sat by Lucas' bed for a long time, just watching him. She never said a word to him, she just sat there. 

After about an hour she was on the verge of falling asleep again, so she needed to do something. Brooke stood and walked over to the dresser with Lucas' belonging. For the first time that morning she noticed the note that sat atop of his clothes. It had Brooke's name on it.

_"Brooke- this is some stuff for you and Lucas. I thought you might want to read through his letters and his other book again. Check is ipod for the playlist 'P.B.D.' (Brooke Penelope Davis I assume) It's all of the songs that remind him of you. He also said that he loved how you loved this sweatshirt. I'll come by later.- Grant"_

Brooke smiled slightly and slid the Scott Body shop sweatshirt over her head. She took the ipod and the books back over to her chair and got comfortable.

As she went through the ipod she saw some familiar titles. ' Boston', 'For Blue Skies', 'Wires', and 'Love Will Come Through' among others. Brooke placed one headphone in her ear and the other in Lucas' and put on 'For Blue Skies'. She then took out his book of letters.

She could hear the music softly playing as she opened the book that sat in her lap. She flipped through the think hard cover book and stopped at a random page and began to read. The letter was dated 6 months ago.

_"Dear Pretty Girl, Well today is no different. I miss you more with each passing minute. You're all I can think about these days. The thought of you seems to be the only thing that can bring a smile to my face. I feel as though my life, my apparent happiness, is all a lie. Nothing is real to me if I can't share it with you anymore. There is a pain in my heart where you used to be, and I know that it won't go away, it can't go away because I'm not with you. I can't hold you anymore and immerse myself in your scent, I can't kiss you, and I can't whisper in your ear and tell you how much I love you. I took another of my walks today. They've become a sort of routine for me when I'm in New York. Now they just show how naïve I am. I walk around for hours hoping to find you. On a small island inhabited by millions, I walk around and think that fate might just lead me to you. Once again I am wrong. But I will try again tomorrow, I will walk through the city and look for you everyday before I go back home; and then I will do it again when I come back in two weeks. You'll never know this though, because even as I write this words to you I know that you will probably never read them. Just like you were then, I am scared now. So I'll read this over and over until I memorize it, and then I'll just place it in the wooden box in the back of my closet; the one that has all of my memories of you and the love we shared. I'll write again soon. I love you Pretty Girl. –Your Broody."_

Brooke felt a tear run down her cheek for what seemed like the millionth time in the past few days. She couldn't read anymore of this, it was too painful. So she put that book down and picked up the other one. It was Lucas' first book. She had read it cover to cover multiple times over the past two years and she knew what she could find in it; all of their memories. From the early ones to their tearful goodbyes after graduation, they would all be there for her to reminisce in. There were the ones from when she took him to have 'fun', to their epic fights that ended in the incredible night they would share together. Everything was there, and suddenly that too became painful to think about. So Brooke put down the second book, took out their headphones and focused on Lucas again.

All of Lucas' words from his book and from his speeches over the last few days were ringing in Brooke's ears. Maybe it was time she said something back…

"Hi," she started. It was almost inaudible, but it was a start. "I know that you can't hear me and that makes what I'm about to say a lot easier and a lot harder at the same time." Brooke said, and for the first time she took his hand in hers and held it tightly as she could feel the tears begin to burn in her eyes. "I love you Lucas Scott, and I'm so sorry for everything that I've put you though." Brooke paused and tried to catch her breath to stop from crying once again. "You need to know that I want to be with you too Lucas…I was just…scared. And I know how simple that sounds but you should know that there was never a time when I stopped loving you….."

Karen and Haley watched Brooke from the window. Brooke didn't know they were there though. Lily was with James and Nathan as well as the rest of their friends in the waiting room. As they stood there silently watching Brooke, they were both thinking the same thing. They were remembering when, 6 years ago, Lucas was in the same position after his car accident. They remembered a different Brooke; the one that redecorated the whole room and wouldn't stop talking, the girl that was gushing about how much she was falling for this guy. But the Brooke that they were watching now wasn't like the old Brooke. She was independent, sophisticated, even more beautiful than before, and she was hopelessly in love with Lucas. This Brooke was so different from the old Brooke. This Brooke was mature and stable; she was making a life for herself outside of her high school image. But they both knew that as terrified as the girl before them was, if Lucas were to wake up and just tell her that everything would be alright, then somehow she could be the same cheery girl they all knew.

When Brooke was finished talking to Lucas, they entered the room and claimed they didn't hear any part of what she said to them. Brooke, rightly so, didn't believe them.

Over the next few hours, all of their friends made their rounds to see Lucas. Skillz, Mouth, and Grant were among the people who came to see him. They all quietly spoke to Lucas, asking him to wake up. Brooke sat in the corner the whole time and kept her eyes on Lucas. As private as their thoughts might have been, no one would want to make Brooke leave Lucas.

Not long after visitors stopped coming, Brooke found herself alone with Lucas again. Karen was outside the door talking to Dr. Bradley, and Nathan, Haley, James, and Lily were in the waiting room. Grant had to leave because of some so called fiasco with Lucas' publicist, and Ryan had long since been fielding all of Brooke calls from her office. Brooke hadn't even thought about work since she had begun to dance with Lucas at the party the night before. Her phone had been ringing off the hook with press, executives and her personal staff, but Brooke didn't even consider answering them, so instead, Ryan did.

For the first time since she entered the room, something on Lucas caught Brooke's eye. She stared intently at the tattoo that was peaking out from under the sleeve of Lucas' hospital gown. She remembered that night fondly, and smiled as she ran her fingers over the character. Brooke thought of all the drama that ensued between them since their first date. She had long since forgiven him for his actions in high school, now the only thing that was holding her back was her fear.

Brooke took a deep breath and shook her thoughts from her head. She wanted to be stronger for Lucas, for herself, and for the possibility of them in the future.

Brooke took another deep breath and closed her eyes. "I love you Lucas," she breathed out.

"I love you too…Pretty girl," a soft and weak voice said slowly.

Brooke didn't open her eyes; she thought she had to be dreaming. She slowly opened them to see Lucas' blue eyes staring back at her.

She only allowed the hint of a smile to cross her face. She was scared again, and she didn't know how to act around him now. She let go of his hand and stared at him. She didn't have to say anything, the way she was looking at Lucas said everything to him.

In her eyes he could see everything. He could read her every thought; she was scared, guilt-ridden, relieved, and in love. He smiled softly at her, and she returned the smile.

For a moment that seemed to last forever, they were caught in each other's gaze.

Brooke was the first to break the stare. "I should get your mom," Brooke choked out. The tears beginning to form again and Brooke didn't want to cry in front of him now. She quickly got up and left the room, but not before looking back at Lucas in another breath-taking gaze. Brooke left the room for the first time since she entered.

* * *

"Karen," Brooke said softly, interrupting the conversation she was having with Lucas' doctor. "Lucas is awake," Brooke said simply. 

It took a moment for the sentence to register with Karen, but when it did she threw a happy hug around Brooke who returned it. While the doctor went into Lucas' room to start checking his vitals Karen pulled back and looked into Brooke's eyes.

"He's going to be okay now…everything is going to be okay now." Karen said.

"I know."

Karen reached for the doorknob of the hospital room. "Aren't you coming in again?"

Brooke hesitated, she didn't know how to face Lucas anymore. All of her guilt and fears had resurfaced and Karen could somehow sense it. "I think I should tell everyone that he's awake." Brooke said, but then saw the disappointment in Karen's eyes. "But I'll be back in two minutes." she added.

While Karen entered the room and hugged her now awake son, Brooke made her way to the waiting room.

Nathan and Haley were stunned to see Brooke standing before them, so they jumped out of their seats and walked to her. If Brooke had left his room than something big must have happened.

"He's awake," Brooke said calmly. Nathan and Haley let out breaths they didn't realize they were holding. They both hugged Brooke, and then took James and Lily to go see Lucas.

They all came crashing into the room giving him hugs and "you really scared us" or "thank god you're alright" and even "don't ever do that again". Brooke stood in the back of the room and watched everyone. She saw the surprised and delighted look on Lucas' face when he saw his sister coming running up to him. The comforted look when his best friend and brother came over to him. The one look that troubled Brooke was the one he gave her, the one that showed how much he still longed for her.

* * *

After 15 minutes, which seemed like a hell of a lot longer to Lucas and Brooke, everyone left. They all said that they would be back when they released him the following day, and that they loved him. First Nathan and Haley and Jamie left, and then Karen and Lily. As Karen walked by Brooke close to the door, she nodded at Brooke and gave her a reassuring look. 

Brooke closed her eyes and heard the door close; once again she was alone in the room with Lucas.

"Are you going to stand over there the whole time?" Lucas asked as he used most of his energy to prop himself up more in bed.

Brooke slowly walked towards him and stood by the foot of his bed. She hesitated before continuing to move closer to him.

"So my mom filled me in on everything that's happened since I got here…everything with you." Lucas said weakly.

There was a moment of silence. Brooke heard what he had said, but it was clear that she ignored him when she burst into sobs again.  
"I'm so sorry Lucas, I'm so sorry," She kept repeating between sobs.

"Hey," Lucas said reaching for her hand. When he finally took her hand in his, they could both feel the electricity jump through them. "Come here," Lucas said as he moved over in the bed making room for Brooke. She climbed in with him and he held her tightly. He rubbed circles on her back, trying to calm her. "It's not your fault Brooke, it could never be."

After a moment of trying to regain her composure, Brooke finally picked her head up off of his chest and looked him in the eyes.

"I love you Lucas," She whispered.

"I love you too Brooke," He whispered back.

They both leaned in slightly and met for a soft but passionate kiss. As their lips finally Brooke apart, both of them were breathing heavily. They stayed there, their faces, their lips mere centimeters away from each other. Although it was a relatively small kiss, it meant the world to them. The kiss told them that everything would be alright.

Lucas kissed her again softly and then she nestled closer to him, putting her head on his neck near his shoulder. He pulled her as close as possible and held on to her as he felt her breathing even out as she slowly drifted to sleep. He lay away with her in his arms and listened to her breathing for a while, thinking about how grateful he was to have her in his arms once again. And slowly, he drifted to sleep too.

* * *

note about the songs i listed:

boston- (by augustana) was played in the season 3 finale when brucas danced together

for blue skies- (by strays dont sleep) was played in "how a resurrection really feels" during the scene when lucas forgives brooke for sleeping with chris keller

wires- (by athlete) was played in the season 2 finale when lucas tells brooke that he wants to be with her and then she leaves for california

love will come through- (by travis) is one of the songs that is on the CD brooke gives to lucas early in their dating in season 1. she tells him that the song makes her think of him


	14. Reason to Believe

Title- "Reason to Believe" by Dashboard Confessional

* * *

The next morning….

"I feel like an invalid," Lucas complained.

"Relax," Brooke said chuckling. "It's hospital policy."

"Whatever," Lucas mumbled jokingly as he sat in a wheelchair.

"At least you don't have to stay in the wheel chair once you get out of here," Brooke said hoping to make Lucas feel better.

"But I have to stay in bed," Lucas kept complaining.

"But you don't have to be alone in bed," Brooke teased in the husky voice he loved so much.

Lucas raised his eyebrows, smiled, and then gave Brooke a playful wink.

As they reached the exit they saw Nathan and Haley waiting for them.

"Hey loser," Haley said playfully as she and Nathan walked up.

"Thanks Haley!" Lucas said with fake enthusiasm.

"Come on man," Nathan said as he helped Lucas to his feet. "Let's get you home."

The ride was quiet as they drove back to Lucas' apartment. But it wasn't an awkward silence, it was a comfortable one.

* * *

When they arrived at Lucas' apartment then all went upstairs to find Grant, Ryan, and Jamie waiting. (Karen and Lily had to leave, sorry).

They all hugged him and told them how happy they were that he was okay.

"Okay hotshot," Haley said. "Time to get in bed."

"Okay mom," Lucas said with a disappointed expression on his face.

"Mommy?" Jamie asked in a small voice. "Why did uncle Luke call you Mom?"

Everyone burst into laughter at his innocent question.

"He was just making a joke sweetie," Haley said as she bent down and fixed Jamie's wrinkled shirt.

"Uncle Luke isn't funny," Jamie whispered but it was loud enough for everyone to hear, causing them all to burst out into laughter again.

Lucas was at the door to his bedroom when he stopped and turned around.

"Hey Nate?"

"Yeah?"

"What on earth are you doing here right now?" Lucas asked.

"What are you talking about?" Nathan asked, confused. "You just had a—"

"Nathan it's draft day," Lucas said.

"I know," Nathan said quietly, then he shot Lucas a look that said that they would talk about it later. "But I don't have to be at the thing until like 7, so until then I'll be here." Nathan said with a smile on his face.

"Thank you,"

Nathan nodded his head. "Now get some rest!"

"Fine!" Lucas said as he and Brooke began to walk into his room.

"Hey Brooke?" This time it was Brooke who stopped and turned around to Ryan's voice.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked nervously.

"Yeah," Brooke said. She kissed Lucas on the cheek, whispered something in his ear and then walked over to Ryan as Lucas went into his room.

"What's up Ry?" Brooke asked with fake cheerfulness because she knew something was up.

"Um," Ryan said. "Look, I know that you're really busy with Lucas right now, but uh.."

"Okay, please just spit it out!" Brooke said half jokingly and half impatient.

"There are a lot of people that NEED to talk to you….they want you to go into the office today." He said carefully and fearfully of Brooke's wrath, but he was surprised when Brooke just stared off and nodded. "I'm sorry, I tried to explain but they were all really pissed and worried and—"

"It's okay, it's my work right? They're not used to me going AWOL. I'll find time to go in later. Thank you Ryan."

Ryan hugged her and then said his goodbyes. He had to get back to work.

When Ryan left Grant came up to Brooke.

"I'm really sorry but I have to go. I'll be back later too though." Grant said apologetically.

"I understand." Brooke said.

"Thanks," Grant said. "Just tell Lucas to call me as soon as gets a chance."

"Why? Is everything okay?" Brooke asked concerned.

"Yeah……" There was a long pause, Grant took a deep breath before continuing. "Lucas just got an offer to make his books into a movie." Grant said with a huge grin on his face as he left the apartment.

Brooke, Haley, and Nathan were all shocked at what he had just said. Their eyes when wide and they all choked out a "what?"

Brooke hurried back over to Lucas' room to tell him the news. When she got to his door she slowly opened it inch by inch. When she stuck her head in to look at Lucas she realized he was already sleeping. She chuckled quietly to herself. She watched Lucas for a minute as she listened to the soft music that was coming from the speakers in the corner. He looked peaceful. Brooke smiled brightly and returned to Nathan and Haley.

They sat for a while talking about random things. Lucas had been sleeping soundly for the past half hour. They were told to expect him to sleep most of the day for the next few days.

Soon Brooke had to leave and take care of her work life.

Two hours later she returned satisfied with what she had accomplished in such a short amount of time. Haley was out grocery shopping for Lucas, Nathan and Jamie were playing video games, and Lucas was still sleeping...

* * *

Haley came in shortly after Brooke with a few bags of groceries.  
"Whoa! Tutor-mom," Brooke said as she stopped working for a minute to help Haley. "How much did you get?"

"Just enough," Haley said sighing. "Have you looked inside his fridge or cabinets? It's like he doesn't live here anymore. I mean there's no food."

"Is he even here that much?" Brooke asked.

"Just a few days every so often," Haley said. "But he's stuck here for the next two weeks whether he likes it or not."

Brooke smiled softly at the idea, but after a few moments her smile faded.

"What's wrong tigger?" Haley asked concerned over Brooke's sudden mood change.

Brooke was about to speak when they heard someone bouncing a basketball.

"Shhhh!" Nathan said grabbing the basketball from Jamie. "Uncle Lucas is still sleeping."

"Sorry daddy," Jamie said with his puppy dog eyes.

"It's okay buddy. Go get your shoes and then we'll go out and play."

"Yay!" Jamie squealed as he ran to put his shoes on.

Haley eyed Brooke who was putting groceries away and avoiding Haley's glare. Nathan and Jamie said goodbye and when they left Brooke finally allowed herself to meet Haley's glare.

"Spill," Haley said simply.

"I don't think we should talk about it here." Brooke said.

"Lucas is still sleeping, just talk to me Brooke," Haley said. They both thought that Lucas was sleeping, but he wasn't. The basketball bouncing had woken up two minutes before, and he could hear their conversation.

Brooke took a deep breath.

"What's wrong Brooke? Just tell me….Please," Haley pleaded with Brooke.

"Okay," Brooke finally said. "I love Lucas more than anything in the world and I do want to be with him its just….I mean…I don't know how to be with him anymore."

Haley gave her a confused look.

"We're not in high school anymore, you know? After everything that's happened between us, how do we just be together?"

"That's it." Haley said. "Just be with him."

"That doesn't help Hales," Brooke said disappointedly.

"What I mean is that for now just spend time with him. Take care of him, get to know him again, be the way you were in high school just no drama and instead of school you have your jobs. I know that your scared bu—"

"Scared doesn't even begin to describe what I'm feeling," Brooke said. "I hate being vulnerable like this."  
"You're not, not anymore. He won't hurt you again Brooke, I know that you don't believe that, but he won't."

Brooke was silent for a moment.

"I just want to be happy," Brooke said softly.

"This is your chance, Brooke. You just have to let yourself be happy," Haley said.

Brooke nodded. They stayed silent for a few minutes, continuing to unpack the groceries. Little did they know that in the bedroom, behind what seemed like paper thin walls, Lucas was laying on his bed staring at the ceiling taking in what he had just heard them say. He lay there thinking about the past. 'I was afraid of being vulnerable again…' the words were ringing in his ears as he remembered how scared she was in high school. But he had hurt her again, and as much as he had tried to push out the bad memories, they all came back to him at once and he felt an enormous wave of nausea pass over him because of his guilt. After what seemed like forever, he was brought out of his thoughts by Haley's voice again.

"So how was work? You're back a lot earlier than I had expected." Haley said.

"Yeah, it wasn't as bad as I had expected. Everyone basically wanted to know where I have been for the past two days and what really happened." Brooke said nonchalantly.

"That's it?"

"Kinda. I just told everyone a very vague version of what happened. But I know I'm not going to get off that easily. People are going to want answers soon, and when I don't show up to work this we—"

"Wait, what?" Haley asked, cutting Brooke off.

"Ryan's taking over for me for a bit. I'll still be in charge of the fashion stuff, but business wise, the company's probably better off in his hands anyway. I just told him to keep me in touch and fax anything that needs to be approved."

"Why?"

Brooke hesitated for a moment. "I just don't want to leave Lucas alone right now."

* * *

Lucas smiled at Brooke's words, and for the first time in a while, he thought that everything would be okay.

Lucas rolled over to check his phone for the time and messages. As he reached across he lost his balance and caught the wire for his charger, sending his phone to the floor with a surprisingly loud thud.

Lucas cringed, at the loud sound. Sure enough, seconds later Brooke knocked on Lucas' door and peaked her head through.

"Hey," She said softly.

"Hey," He replied. When he saw her an uncontrollable smile came across his face.

"How long have you been up?" Brooke asked coming into the room and sitting on the bed.

"Just woke up," Lucas said, lying because he didn't want Brooke to know he heard her and Haley's conversation.

"Did we wake you?" Brooke asked.

"No,' Lucas said. "It's about time I woke up anyway. I've been out for a while."

"You need your rest though," Brooke said.

Lucas smiled softly and stared into her eyes. "Thank you," He finally said.

"For what?"

"For taking care of me," Lucas said.

Brooke couldn't help but smile. "I told you…I'm not going anywhere, I'm not leaving again."

It was Lucas' turn to smile at her comment. "I love you."

"I love you too," Brooke said as she leaned in and kissed Lucas softly.

When Brooke broke the kiss, Lucas pulled her down onto the bed.

"Lay with me," Lucas said softly. Brooke curled up next time as Lucas held her tightly.

Brooke closed her eyes and relaxed in his arms. Lucas on the other hand was staring at the ceiling again; his guilt was washing over him again and he felt sick to his stomach. Lucas took a deep breath.

"What's wrong Broody?" Brooke asked softly.

"That obvious huh?" Lucas replied.

"Yep," Brooke said in a cheerful voice. She propped herself up on her elbows and saw a strange look in Lucas' eye as sat up in bed, causing Brooke to do the same thing. "What's wrong Lucas?" Brooke asked, now very concerned.

"I'm sorry Brooke," Lucas choked out, the emotion heavy in his voice. He was on the verge of tears.

"For what? What's going on?" Brooke asked. The little alarm inside Brooke's head from all of her insecurities started screaming; every fear she had about their relationship was in the back of her head as she searched his eyes for an answer.

"For everything that I did to you." Lucas said. Hearing his words Brooke let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "I'm so sorry, I hurt you so many times and you never deserved it. I don't deserve you for everything I've done."

"Lucas," Brooke said softly as she scooted closer to him.

"I'm s—" he began to say again

"Shh," Brooke said soothingly. "It's okay, everything's okay now."

"No it's not. I can't take back what I did to you." Lucas said still on the verge of tears.

"Can you please listen to me for a second?" Brooke asked with a more stern voice this time.

Lucas was silent.

"What happened, happened," She began. "We can't take back what we did. You're not the only one who wants to take back some of the things you did. I've made a lot of mistakes too." Brooke said. She paused for a while before continuing. "Honestly, I'm scared. I'm terrified of this," She said motioning between the two. "I'm scared of what could happen, and I'm scared of our past. But our past is part of who we are now; without it we probably wouldn't be here today. So up until two minutes ago, I didn't know how this was going to work, but now I know that it will. We need to just put it all behind us; we need to move on together." Brooke said.

Lucas was speechless for a moment before he smiled and pulled her in for a kiss. It was soft but full of passion and understanding. When they finally released each other they stared into each other's eyes again.

"Since when are you so moving and articulate and…" Lucas asked.

"It's all of the books you made me read," Brooke said with a big smile on her face.

Lucas laughed and pulled her back in for another kiss. This one quickly grew deeper as Lucas pulled her back down to lay on the bed. With every second the kiss heated until Brooke was on top of Lucas. He quickly pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. They were both out of breath, and Lucas muttered "dammit," through his heavy breathing.

Brooke pulled away fully at this with a confused look on her face.

"I can't do this," Lucas said, causing an offended look to come across Brooke's face. Lucas immediately noticed this. "No, no, no! Not what I meant. I mean I want to, trust me, I've been dying to…you know. I just can't."

Brooke was still confused, and Lucas could easily tell. He took her hand and placed it on his chest. She could feel his heart pounding.

"See what you do to me?" Lucas said playfully.

"So what now?"

"Well now I go take a nice cold shower," he continued to joke. "But until I see the doctor again, we're going to need every ounce of will power we have."

"Yeah," Brooke said. She leaned down and gave him another quick kiss, pulling away quick enough to leave him searching for more. "I'll be outside," She said as she got off of the bed.

"I love you," Lucas said slowly, meaning every word.

"I love you too," Brooke said smiling before she left the room.

* * *

As Brooke emerged from the bedroom Nathan and Jamie were just walking back inside.  
"That was fast," Brooke said.

"Yeah," Nathan said. "It started raining pretty quickly."

Haley went over to Jamie and picked him up.

"Raining huh?"

Jamie nodded his head disappointedly. "Can I have a snack?" he asked changing to a happy face.

The three just laughed.

"So how's Lucas doing?" Nathan asked.

"Takin' a cold shower," Brooke said nonchalantly.

"Seriously Brooke," Haley said. She waited for an answer, but got one when they heard the shower start running in the next room.

"Oh god Brooke!" Nathan said a little disgusted.

Brooke smiled coyly and shrugged. "Relax, he's not actually taking a cold shower," She said and then started to drift off into her own land. "He's taking a hot, steamy shower, all alone, just standing there al—"

"Brooke!" Haley snapped and then motioned to Jamie who was staring at Brooke.

"Oh my god!" Brooke said quickly. "I'm so sorry, Jamie just ignore me okay? Why don't you go watch TV?"

"Okay!" Jamie said and then he ran over to the couch.

"Please don't do that again," Nathan said.

"Sorry," Brooke said again not wanting to make eye contact with either of them.

* * *

Ten minutes later…

"Hey guys," Lucas said as he emerged from the bedroom after his shower.

"Hey," Haley said. "Brooke missed you."

Brooke turned bright red.

"Okay then," Lucas said. "Nathan can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah man," Nathan said as he followed Lucas into the bedroom.

When they got there Lucas turned up the music.

"You take me in here just to listen to a song?" Nathan asked.

"No, it's so that they can't hear us."

"Oh…what's up/"

"So did you make a decision yet?"

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, yeah I did."

"Well are you going to tell me?" Lucas asked.

"What do you think I did? I'm finally getting my dream, it's only fair to share it with my family….I'm staying in Tree Hill."

Lucas smiled and looked at Nathan, a look that told his little brother that he was proud of him.

"So enough about me. I think congratulations are in order for you," Nathan said.

"For what?" Lucas asked.

"Brooke didn't tell you?" Nathan asked.

"Tell me what?" Lucas said.

"Clearly she didn't." Nathan said as he turned of the music and brought Lucas out of the room. "Brooke!"

"What?"

"You didn't tell him?" Nathan said.

"Tell me what!" Lucas was getting a little frustrated.

"Oh my god! I totally forgot, I'm so sorry." Brooke said more quickly.

"It's fine, but what is going on?" Lucas asked again.

"They uh, they want to make your books into a movie," Brooke said still in shock of the fact.

Lucas stood there speechless.

"Luke?"

Lucas let his jaw drop.

"Luke you there?"

Finally he collected himself. "Are you se—are you serious?"

They all nodded.  
"Oh my god."

"Yeah," They all said.

Brooke walked over to Lucas and sat down with him at the table.

"You okay?" She asked.

"This is….unexpected." Lucas said.

"uh huh,"

Finally a smile broke out onto Lucas' face.

"It's pretty incredible too."

"Yeah, yeah it is." Brooke said, now smiling too.

Lucas hugged Brooke and then Nathan and Haley. Everything seemed to be going right.

* * *

Later that night, Nathan and Haley were at the NBA draft in Madison Square Garden, while Brooke and Lucas took care of Jamie and watched it on TV.

Jamie sat between Brooke and Lucas, but by the time it started at 8, he was already exhausted and falling asleep on Brooke's lap.

"Hey buddy," Lucas said, shaking Jamie lightly. Jamie just grumbled.

"Do you want me to take you to bed?" Lucas asked. Jamie nodded and yawned. Lucas slowly picked Jamie up and carried him into the bedroom. He carefully put him down on the bed and brought the covers up over his waist. Lucas kissed him on the forehead and began to leave.

"Uncle Luke?" Lucas heard Jamie say quietly.

"Yeah buddy?" Lucas asked.

"Where's Aunt Brooke?"

"I'll go get her." Lucas said and then left the room. "Brooke?"

"Yeah?"  
"Jamie wants to see you," Lucas said.

Brooke got up and walked into the bedroom. She sat down on the side of the bed.  
"What's up Jamie?"

"I…just wanted to say goodnight," he said in between yawns. He held his arms out for Brooke, who leaned in and gave him a hug.  
"Night Aunt Brooke," He said as he turned on his side and began to fall asleep.

"Goodnight Jamie," Brooke said as she kissed him on the side of the head. She stood and saw Lucas standing in the doorway, watching her.

She walked up to him and kissed him softly before taking his hand and leading him back out into the living room.

"You know you're going to be a great mom one day," Lucas said as they sat back down.

Brooke blushed a little.

"And you'll be an even better dad." Brooke said.

There was a long silence between them as they sat on the couch curled up with each other.

"Lucas?'

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever think about it?" Brooke asked nervously.

"Think about what?" he asked.

"About a future like that? A life together, and kids, you know, the whole nine yards?" Brooke asked.

Lucas laughed a little. "The whole nine yards?"

"Seriously."

"Seriously?" Lucas asked. "Yeah, I did." He said, and when he saw the soft look of happiness on her face he decided to continue; to tell her something he never told anyone before. "I used to imagine that somehow we'd make it through college together. You would get your dream of starting your own fashion line…mine was still undecided because I had been keeping my HCM a secret. But no matter what I did, or you did, we'd be together and happy." Lucas smiled to himself and waited for a while before he continued. "When we were together I would sometimes watch you sleeping in the morning and picture a future together. We'd somehow end up in Tree Hill, raising a family. We'd have two kids, a boy and a girl, and the boy was a few years older than the girl, and he would be an amazing big brother to her. Like in high school, he'd watch out for her. I would hope that he would play basketball, and as much as I would want her to play basketball too, she'd be a spitting image of you….I'd picture nights in the future where we would sit on the beach or at the Rivercourt and watch the sun set together, and we were always happy because we had the other in our arms. I pictured it all, Brooke."

Brooke let a silent tear run down her face as she listened to his story. It was a happy tear too. She was stunned at his response, and she couldn't think of anything to say to it, so she leaned up to him and kissed him gently. They lingered with their lips together for a few moments, and then Brooke curled herself back up next to him, getting as close to him as possible.

They turned up the volume on the TV and watched as the draft began.

( side note, I'm changing it ever so slightly- Nathan and Haley did go to Duke, not the community college)

Just over 15 minutes later, Lucas saw what he was looking for. The Bobcat's insignia was in the bottom corner of the screen.

"Brooke," He said nudging her to get her attention away from the magazine. "This is it!"

"How do you know?" She asked. Lucas just winked at her as they heard a loud voice come over the TV.  
"For the first round of the draft, the Charlotte Bobcats select Nathan Scott out of Duke University."

"Oh my god!" Brooke screamed.

Lucas smiled and nodded proudly.

"He did it!" Brooke said.

"Yeah, he really did it," Lucas said as they watched Nathan go up to the podium with a Bobcats hat on and shake hands with the owner and coach, and then pose for pictures as he held up a bobcats jersey with his name on it.

* * *

Two hours later…

Lucas and Brooke were still laying out on the couch together. The draft had just finished and Lucas quickly fell asleep. Brooke laid her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat, she felt the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, and she held him close to her as if she were never going to let him go again.

She heard the buzzer ring so she carefully got up, trying not to wake Lucas and answered it.

"Hello?...yeah send them up…thanks."

A minute later Nathan and Haley were not so quietly knocking on the door.

"What?" Lucas said as he woke up.

"Shhh, relax broody. Nathan and Haley are back."

Lucas rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times. "Where are they?"

Brooke got up and opened the door to see an ecstatic Nathan and Haley waiting on the other side. Nathan still had his bobcat's hat on and he was holding two bottles of champagne, one in each head.

"Hey hotshot!" Brooke squealed as she gave Nathan and Haley big hugs. "Congratulations!" She said over and over again to them.

Lucas was slowly trying to get up.

"Hey man," Nathan said walking over to him. "Sit, it's alright."

"No, no it's okay, I can get up." Lucas said, but as he tried to stand once more he realized how exhausted he was.

"Whoaa!" Nathan said, practically pulling Lucas back down. "You don't need to be standing, all you need is a glass in your hand," Nathan said with a grin on his face.

Lucas immediately relaxed at his reassuring words. Even though Lucas wouldn't admit it, he really needed to be on bed rest.

"So," Nathan said resuming his joyous mood. "Where's my son? I want to tell him the good news."

"He's sleeping in Lucas' room," Brooke said as she and Haley brought four glasses over. "He's been out for a while."

"Wow," Haley said. "I'm impressed, usually he puts up a fight before going to sleep when we're not here."

"I guess not tonight," Brooke said.

"I guess so."

"Soooo!" Nathan said again. "Let's get these drinks out!"

They all spent the next hour celebrating Nathan's success. Everyone was happy; they were all at places in their lives where everything seemed to be working itself out. Brooke looked around in happiness and realized they were truly enjoying themselves the way they did in high school, but then she felt a pang of guilt when she realized that someone was missing….


	15. Crawling Towards the Sun

Title- "Crawling Towards the Sun" by The Hush Sound

* * *

Two weeks later….

Brooke and Lucas were walking through Central Park, hand in hand.

They were walking across the Great Lawn. Brooke was looking around, taking in the beautiful summer morning, while Lucas couldn't take his eyes of Brooke who looked stunning even though she was dressed casually.

"So how does it feel Broody?" Brooke said, noticing the flattering stare he was giving her.  
"Hmm?" He said as he stopped walking and turned to face Brooke.

She laughed a little at him. "How does it feel to have clean bill of health?"

Lucas grinned. "Excellent, I can finally start living without worrying so much anymore."

Brooke nodded. "I'm glad to have you back, you know now that we can…" Brooke trailed off. Lucas raised his eyebrows.

"Oh yeah," He said slyly and they both laughed. "So," he continued more seriously. "Are you sure about tonight?"

Brooke took a moment and then nodded. "Yeah…it'll be an interesting night though."

_Flashback_

_"Hello?" a voice on the other line said._

_"Peyton?" the other voice said quietly._

_"…Brooke?" Peyton asked._

_"Hey," Brooke said still a little nervous._

_"Is everything okay? Did something else happen to Lucas again?" Peyton asked._

_"No, no, he's doing great," Brooke said, surprisingly not threatened by Peyton's concern. "I actually was hoping to just talk to you."_

_Peyton was more than surprised by this, but she was all very happy._

_"I was hoping that you would say that. So what's up B. Davis? Or is it soon to be Scott already?"_

_Brooke laughed a little. Peyton's easiness made Brooke more comfortable. _

_"No, we've been taking it surprisingly slow," Brooke admitted. "I just wanted to know how you are, and I wanted to uh, to thank you for when you came to see me."_

_"It was something I should have done a long time ago Brooke. Let's not dwell on that though. I'm doing pretty well, but don't have to ask how you're doing do I?"_

_"No, I guess not," Brooke said. Though Peyton couldn't see it, she knew that Brooke was smiling brightly while thinking about how well everything is going for her._

_After a short silence Peyton finally broke it. "So why are you really calling Brooke?"_

_Brooke laughed a little to herself. "You still know me so well."_

_"I know, so what is it that you are dying to ask me?"_

_"Um, I was hoping that I would get to see you sometime soon…I don't know if it would be in New York or Tree Hill or where ever, I just, I just really want to see you again." Brooke confessed._

_There was a long pause on the other line which made Brooke nervous for the answer._

_"I would love that Brooke," Peyton said and she heard Brooke breathe a sigh of relief. "I can actually come to New York in about ten days."_

_"That's perfect! Crap, my cell's ringing again, I gotta go, but please call me later with the details. I can't wait to see you P."_

_"I can't wait to see you too," Peyton said sincerely._

_They hung up and both Brooke and Peyton let out a long sigh. As if they were leading the same life, they both emerged from a bedroom and to someone else waiting for them._

"I'm just curious what this surprise is," Brooke said.

"Well," Lucas said, looking at his watch. "Three more hours and then you can find out when you pick her up at the airport."

"You're not coming?" Brooke asked.

"I can't, sorry. I have a meeting about making my movie," Lucas said goofily.

Brooke smiled.

"I still can't believe I got Naley to come back up for the weekend!" Brooke squealed. Lucas laughed as he admired his Cheery.

"What?" Brooke said noticing him watching her again.

"You're beautiful, you know that?"

Brooke blushed. She stepped closer and slowly leaned up to him and kissed him. It was a slow and lingering kiss that left them wanting for more, and they would have gotten more had they not realized they were standing in the middle of the park.

Lucas leaned his forehead on Brooke's and kept his eyes closed. Eventually Brooke pulled back and then rested her head on his chest. He held her tightly for a moment before releasing her.

They began to walk together again, still with their fingers knotted together tightly. Brooke once again looked around and took in her surroundings. In the distance she saw a basketball court behind some trees, and then she looked back around the park. She could see the skyline around her; the apartment buildings and office buildings.

This time it was Brooke that stopped walking as she looked down at the ground.

"Hey," Lucas said as he put two fingers under her chin and lifted her head up so that her eyes would meet his. "What's wrong? Aren't I supposed to be the brooding one?" Lucas asked playfully, but Brooke didn't smile.

After a long minute of silence and staring at the ground, Brooke finally picked her head back up to look at Lucas.

"I miss Tree Hill," She said quietly, as if she were confessing something she wasn't supposed to.

Lucas was surprised by her comment. "What are you saying?"

"I can't just yet…but I want to go back to Tree Hill with you…soon," She said still quietly.

Lucas took a moment to take in what she said, but when he realized what was going on, he broke out into a huge smile. He picked her up and spun her around as he held her in his arms.

"God, I've been waiting a while to hear you say that." Lucas said.

"Well I've been waiting a long time to say it," Brooke said with a wide smile that showed off the dimples that Lucas loved so much.

* * *

Later that day…

Brooke is at the airport waiting for Peyton's flight. She's pacing around and talking on the phone.

"I don't understand," She said. "I thought it wasn't until the end of the week…Ryan is there anyway--….yeah I know how important it is…okay, okay!...I'll be there…thanks." Brooke said disheartened as she hung up the phone and sat down. She stared at the blackberry in her hands as it was somehow responsible for the news she just got. Although it would be good news any other day, today she had other things to worry about.

"Wow, that excited to see me?" Peyton said sarcastically from behind Brooke, who immediately jumped up at the sound of Peyton's voice.

"Hey!" Brooke said and surprisingly went to give Peyton a long overdue hug. "It's good to s—Jake!?" Brooke interrupted herself when she saw Jake waiting behind Peyton with two bags.

"Oh yeah," Peyton said. "Surprise." She said laughing a little.

"It's good to see you too Jake," Brooke said as she hugged him too. "So let's go, the car's waiting outside." She added as they all headed out.

"So what happened?" Peyton asked.

"Hmm?" Brooke said as she looked for her car keys in her bag.

"The phone call?"

"Oh, right," Brooke said clearly disappointed again. "I'll tell you guys later."

Peyton and Jake gave each other a look that said they needed to figure out what she was hiding.

"So where are Nathan and Haley?" Jake asked.

"They got in this morning, but they went straight to their hotel, they said they'd meet us for dinner. CLEARLY it's been a while since they've had time without Jamie and they did not want to waste a second." Brooke said.

"Okay, that was a little much. CLEARLY you haven't changed at all."

"Hah, yeah, I know," Brooke said as she started the car. "So, now that I've locked you in here, can you tell me how the world you two got together and forgot to mention it."

Both Peyton and Jake blushed a little.

_Peyton walked into her room and fell onto the bed; she was exhausted. When she got back to Tree Hill she decided that it was best to not only move Lucas' things out of the apartment, but move her things out too. So she found herself living at home again. Just like high school she had the house all to herself because her father was still not around much._

_She sat up, still at the end of her bed and looked around the room. It hadn't changed at all since she last lived there. All of her records were still stacked against the wall, and just like old times Peyton thought that she needed to repaint the room. She got up and walked to the closet and opened it. Inside, her computer was still in the same place, and her sketches covered the walls. Once in particular caught her eye. She stared at it for what felt like hours before she closed the doors and went to sleep thinking about the picture; the one of Jake and Jenny._

_The next morning Peyton woke up and immediately remembered what had happened before she went to bed. It seemed as though the picture was burning a hole through the door and seeking Peyton out. _

_She couldn't take it anymore, so she quickly got up and got dressed, grabbed her bag and headed out to her car._

_Hours later she pulled up to a familiar looking house in Savannah._

_'Why am I here?' she thought to herself. She kept asking the question even though she already knew the answer. She was there for the hope that Jake still loved her, and if he didn't then she was just there for closure._

_She slowly got out of the car and walked up the walkway. She stood at the door almost not knowing what to do next. She hesitantly knocked on the door and waited until she heard footsteps behind it._

_"Coming!" she could hear him yell from the inside._

_Finally he opened the door. Not surprisingly, he was shocked to see her._

_"Peyton," he breathed out._

_"Hi."_

Brooke smiled as she listen to Peyton and Jake recount what had happened in the past two weeks.

"One hell of a story," Brooke said as they finished. Jake and Peyton just nodded, smiling as well. "So where's Jenny?" Brooke asked.

"With my parents for a few days."

"And do I even want to ask about you know who?" Brooke asked, referring to Nikki.

"Ahh," Jake said. "She gets to visit every weekend, but I have custody of Jenny now."

"Congratulations. How'd you manage that?" Brooke asked.

"Well after her second stint in court mandated rehab, it wasn't much of a battle anymore." Jake said in a surprisingly solemn tone. They all decided to drop the subject.

The rest of the car ride was filled with more catching up. Pretty soon they arrived at Brooke's apartment. When they got upstairs Lucas, Nathan, and Haley were all waiting. Everyone was more comfortable than expected, even Lucas and Peyton.

They spent the night talking and laughing as if no time had passed since high school; just the way they wanted to spend the night.

* * *

Please leave lots of reviews! thanks 


	16. Revealing Too Much

Sorry it took so long, but here's the next chapter. please leave reviews!

Title- "Revealing Too Much" by The Honorary Title

* * *

The Next Afternoon…

"Hey guys!?" Lucas yelled from the door as he grabbed his car keys and his cell.

"Yeah?" Nathan said coming in from the balcony.

"I'm going to get Brooke now, I'll be back in an hour tops."

"Okay," Peyton and Haley said coming inside with Jake.

"So what is it that came up last minute?" Haley asked.

"Photoshoot," Lucas said.

"Yeah, she told us that. We meant can you be more specific." Jake said.

"Right," Lucas said. "She's the cover story for next week's Vanity Fair, and today was basically the only day they could do the photo shoot and interview since everything's been a little…out of the ordinary lately."

"That's one way to put it," Nathan said.

"Yeah," Lucas said laughing a little. "I'll see you guys later." He said before walking out the door.

* * *

Lucas walked into the studio downtown and looked around. Brooke told him that it was a pretty simple shoot, but to Lucas, the whole place looked chaotic. There were photographers running around, racks of clothes everywhere, and a few people yelling orders. In the center of everything was Brooke, standing against a white backdrop looking incredible.

He could feel his breath catch in his throat when he saw her, but then he also saw something that made his heart break at the same time. When he looked at Brooke, although she looked beautiful, he knew something was wrong. Something was off about her smile and the way she moved, it was as if something was missing.

Lucas tried to stay unnoticed for now, so he moved discretely to the other side of room to see Ryan who was staring at photos on a desk.

"Hey," Lucas said.

"Hey!" Ryan said, surprised to see Lucas. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thanks." Lucas said, but then his voice trailed off. "Hey Ryan?"

"Yeah?"

"Did Brooke say anything to you?"

"About what?" Ryan asked, a little more concerned now.

"Anything really," Lucas said struggling to find the words to describe what he meant. "She, she just looks really different…kinda sad actually."

"What are you talking about?" A man with a camera walked up to Lucas and Ryan. "She looks just as good as she always does. Look at the pictures." He said pointing to the pictures that Ryan had been looking at. They were pictures of some of her best photo shoots. Lucas looked through some of them and realized that they all looked the same. Brooke was smiling or posing a the sexy way that he was sure everyone loved, but in each picture he realized the Brooke that was smiling there was never the dimpled smiled that he loved so much.

The thought of this scared scarred him, and one thought crossed his mind over and over again. 'Is she happy?'

* * *

Lucas finally walked over to where Brooke could see him. She was just finishing up when he caught her eye.

"Lucas!" She called out as she broke out into the huge dimpled smile, the kind that made him smile too.

From the corner of his eye he could see Ryan and the photographer notice the change in Brooke. The photographer immediately grabbed his camera and began to take pictures of the unsuspecting Brooke.

Brooke was already making her way over to Lucas, he smile never faltering. As Lucas stared at her coming closer, he soon felt his broody nature wash over him as he again wondered whether or not she was truly happy. 'Why the fake smile?' He kept asking himself.

The broodiness washed away as soon as Brooke was at an arm's length. She bounded over and into his arms, and when Lucas hugged her tightly he could tell that she was happy again.

He pulled back and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

"I missed you Broody."

"I missed you too Cheery," Lucas said, immediately feeling awkward for using that nickname at that time. Brooke didn't seem to notice the irony of using it then, she was too wrapped up in his arms.

"Didn't you see each other this morning?" Ryan asked as he walked over.

"Point being?" Brooke asked.

He sighed. "No point at all I guess." giving her a sarcastic smile.

"I'm gonna go change and then can we get out of here?" Brooke asked Lucas.

"We can do anything you want

* * *

," Lucas said placing one more kiss on her forehead before she ran off to a dressing room.

* * *

"Lucas?" Ryan asked as they watched Brooke disappear.

"Yeah?"

"I saw what you meant." He said quietly. "I guess I never really thought that there was a different smile, you know? She always had the same smile at her photo shoots, I just thought tha--. I don't know."

Lucas didn't know what to say.

"You think she's okay?" Ryan asked.

"I think she'll be okay," Lucas said. "I don't know what's going on, but I'll talk to her about it later."

Ryan nodded. "Thanks."

Ryan cell began to ring again. "I have to take this, but it was good to see you."

"You too," Lucas said as he shook hands with Ryan who then left.

* * *

"You ready to go?" Brooke said, bounding up to Lucas again.

"Uh huh," Lucas said as he took her hand and led her out.

"So what's everyone been doing today? I really didn't want to leave, its just that—its just that this is really important." Brooke said quietly.

"I understand, and they understand. But it was a pretty uneventful day without you. Nathan, Jake, and I hung out, played some basketball of course, and Haley and Peyton just walked around the city. Don't worry they said they were just window shopping, they wouldn't dare go shopping without you." He said, trying to lighten Brooke's mood a little.

"That's good. I can't wait to see them again. I still can't believe how much fun last night was."  
"I know, it was just like old times. It felt good, you know?"

"Yeah."

"So tonight's going to be interesting," Lucas said after a long pause.

"Yeah, and embarrassing," Brooke said, scoffing at the thought.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think it's about time I did it." Brooke said matter-of-factly.

"Well then let's get you home and get ready."

"Sounds like a plan, boyfriend." Brooke said as Lucas pulled her closer and they walked out to the car.

* * *

Brooke emerged from the bedroom 20 minutes after she had gone in. She had changed into a casual jeans and a top, but she still looked amazing. She was putting her earrings in as she walked up to the rest of the gang. They were all standing around the island in the kitchen as Haley finished making dinner.

"You look beautiful," Lucas whispered as he put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. He kissed her lightly on the temple and breathed in the scent of her shampoo.

"Thanks," She whispered back smiling. Lucas looked at her intently as she spoke animatedly with everyone else so she didn't notice him. What he found at the photo shoot earlier that day was really starting to bother him, but he hadn't been able to talk to her about it yet. In fact, he didn't know how to talk to her about it at all.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lucas asked Brooke again.

"Would you stop asking me that?" Brooke said half-playfully. "This will be good for me."

"Okayyyyy," Lucas finally gave in.

"He does have a point, Brooke," Nathan said.

"Yeah," Peyton agreed. "This could get pretty ugly."

Brooke sighed over dramatically. "Please, guys, it'll be more fun than you think."

"It's a pretty…interesting way to give an interview though," Haley said.

"Yeah," Brooke said. "Very true."

"So how's this going to work anyway?" Jake asked.

"I don't really know, I guess she'll ask questions every so often, but most of it is up to us." Brooke said. "Speaking of which, I have an idea for how to make this less…painful."

Everyone looked at Brooke waiting for her to continue. "She should be here in like 5 minutes, so I figured before she gets here, we should all go around and say a topic that we don't want to talk about. I'll go first, I don't want to talk about Chris Keller."

"Me either!" Haley added.

"Nathan?" Brooke said as they went around in a circle.

"Um, my mom's trips to rehab."

"Nikki," Jake said simply.

Peyton thought for a minute before answering. "Rick," she said quietly.

"Lucas?" Brooke asked.

Lucas shrugged. "I don't know, but if something comes up, I'll be sure to tell you that I don't want to talk about it." Most of Lucas' secrets were exposed in his book, so he didn't really have anything to hide anymore.

"Works for me," Brooke said. She was about to continue when the buzzer interrupted her. "I guess she's here," Brooke said as she went over and picked up the phone telling the doorman to send the woman up.

The doorbell rang and Brooke made her way to the door. Everyone else waited in the kitchen. Brooke stopped in front of a mirror, straightened her top, and then opened the door.

"Hi," Brooke said nervously but happily.

"Hi," The professional looking woman before her said. "Carolyn Jenson, you can just call me Carolyn." She said extending her hand to Brooke who gladly took it. All Brooke could think was that she was a lot kinder than some of the people she had done interviews with.

"Come on in," Brooke said leading her into the apartment.

"So I saw the pictures from the shoot today, they look grea—" Carolyn began to say but stopped when she saw the 5 other people standing waiting for her. "Okay, am I missing something?" She asked.

"So here's the deal," Brooke began. "It's been almost three years since I've given my first interview, and not once have I ever talked about my past; where I came from, my friends, and my family. You, assuming you want to know, get to hear everything about me. This is it," She said motioning to the gang. "This is my past; these are the most important people to me."

"Wow," was all Carolyn could say.

"Meet Broody, Tutor-girl, Boy-toy, P. Sawyer, and Jageilski," Brooke said. "AKA Lucas, Haley, Nathan, Peyton, and Jake."

"So, would you like dinner?" Brooke said cheerfully as everyone grabbed plates.

"You know," Carolyn said, as they all sat down around the living room. "I've been working as a staff writer for Vanity Fair for a long time, but this," She said motioning around the room. "Has never happened to me before."

"Yeah," Peyton said. "We all think this could turn out really horribly, but Brooke was insistent."

"P. Sawyer do you have something to hide?" Brooke asked with a playful glare.

Peyton returned the friendly glare. "Go Brooke yourself." She said playfully.

Brooke turned bright red and buried her face in Lucas' chest. Everyone was laughing at Brooke's embarrassment.

"Low blow Peyton," Brooke said. "Let's not go there yet, I'm going to need a few more drinks before we get that personal."

"Me too!" Lucas said.

"Don't mock, Luke. It's all your fault," Brooke said, still jokingly. "If you hadn't written that letter I—"

"You loved that letter!" Lucas defended.

"Yeah, yeah I did," Brooke said giving up and getting comfortable next to Lucas again.

All the couples were cuddled up next to each other throughout the living room as they waited to really get into everything.

"So where do we start?" Brooked asked.

"How about where each of you met Brooke," Carolyn suggested.

"Post-game party," Nathan and Jake answered at the same time with grins on their faces that were quickly wiped away by Peyton and Haley.

"I don't remember," Peyton said. "Truthfully, it's all kinda meshed into one big rollercoaster ride with Brooke."

"I remember the first time I really met Brooke," Haley said. "She was on painkillers after she sprained her ankle at an away game, she offered me a ride home with her and Peyton…and she didn't like my name so she renamed me Brooke."

"I remember that," Peyton said smiling.

"I don't," Brooke said, causing everyone to laugh again. "Ohhhh! that was the night we found Lucas and Nathan stranded in the middle of the road!"

"Yeah, Whitey kicked us off the bus for fighting on the court…with each other."  
"Lucas?" Carolyn asked. "What about you?"

Lucas just smiled nostalgically. "The first time I met Brooke Davis was when she showed up naked in the backseat of my car." Lucas stated.

"Oh god, this is going to be a long night," Brooke said putting her face in her hands.

"Actually Lucas, she was partially naked." Peyton said. "You had mittens, right Brooke?"

"Oh my god, what was I thinking tonight?" Brooke mumbled and everyone laughed at her.

"Well I can tell you this much," Lucas lowering his voice and becoming more serious. "That was when it all changed."

"You remember that?" Brooke asked as she sat up and turned around to look at Lucas.

"Of course I do," He said. "I don't remember who we played that night, or what the score was, but I everything about how I met you, because that was when it all changed as you said."

Brooke smiled and kissed Lucas softly.

"Of course everything got even wilder from there," Peyton said.

"Drunken tattoo on the first date anyone?" Haley added.

Lucas smiled and lifted up the sleeve of his tee shirt to show them the tattoo his still had on his shoulder. "It was fun," he said to Brooke who smiled at his comment. He pulled Brooke closer and traced out the tattoo on the hem of her jeans where it lay underneath.

"Lucas, what are you doing?" Jake asked, seeing the weird motions he was making with his index finger.

"Oh god, Lucas!" Peyton yelled. She was clearly the only one who knew where Brooke version was. "That's where Brooke has the same tattoo," she said.

"Ohhhh!" Everyone went at the same time.

"Please," Brooke said. "That's nothing. Our early days were pretty wild." She said and then looked up at Lucas. "You remember how many people caught us?"

Lucas laughed and nodded.

"It's a good thing my mom was away. Then again Keith caught us multiple times, and don't even get me started on when we ran into your mom. Nate,"

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"You never told him?" Brooke asked.

"I guess not," Lucas said.

"Told me what?"

"That your mom caught us buying whipped cream and condoms," Brooke said as if it was no big deal.

"What!!!" Nathan said shocked and a little disgusted.

* * *

They spent the next our or so talking about who Brooke was; a big party girl in a small town, turned class president and hopelessly in love. They were asked to describe her a few words; loyal, insecure, unpredictable, insistent, and the most changed, were some of the things that they described Brooke as. Each of course came with a story of its own. A few glasses of wine later and everyone was starting to get comfortable and more open, if you can get more open than they already have been.

* * *

"So how'd you come up with Clothes' over Bros?" Carolyn asked.

"And that's how we got arrested," Peyton said smiling.

"Oh god, don't remind me," Haley said still upset over the whole thing.

Brooke just giggled a little.

"Well," Brooke started. "I was working for a store at the mall to pay rent and I had some simple designs, I showed it to the managers and they turned it into a line. Of course when I found out that I not only wouldn't make any money off of it, but I wouldn't get credit either, I kinda flipped out. And that's when Peyton suggested we go and take my clothes back. It was actually a pretty amazing night."

"Yeah, until the next morning when I woke up to the police at the door,' Haley said.

"I'm sorry, but how is this Clothes' over Bros?" Carolyn asked.

"Right," Brooke continued. "Well when we got out Haley and I were still pining over the bros," Brooke said pointing to Lucas and Nathan. "Peyton and I used to always say 'hoes over bros', which never really worked out, but that's beside the point. Anyway! Haley suggested that I start my own line and sell it online, and so we named it Clothes Over Bros." Brooke said proudly. "But at the end of the day it still wasn't what I wanted, so it didn't last."

"What did you want?" Carolyn asked.

Brooke smiled and looked up at Lucas.

"If you remember, that was the same day I brought you my letters," Brooke said quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"How could I forget?" Lucas asked smiling too.

"God, it was about time," Haley said. "You had been hiding those under the bed since you got back from California. But noooo! you had to go through all that trouble first, and then you finally told him how you felt."

"Chill Hales," Brooke said.

"No way, I had to live through weeks and weeks of your antics, I have the right to complain now."

"She's got a point," Peyton said.

"What is this?! Pick on Brooke day?!" Brooke said holding her arms up in surrender.

Carolyn was about to say something else when a huge crack of thunder interrupted her, causing everyone to jump.

"Whoa! I didn't even realize it was raining," Jake said.

"Me either," Peyton said. They were all looking out the window now and into the pouring rain. "You know what this reminds me of?"

"Uh-huh," Haley said.

"That was a pretty amazing night," Nathan said, pulling Haley closer.

"What was?" Carolyn asked.

"During our senior year one night, there was this huge rainstorm, and when I say huge, I mean huge. It was like the apocalypse or something, the whole town lost power." Peyton said. "But it was a pretty incredible night."

"That I was," Lucas said.

"You know," Peyton continued. "That was the last night I spent with Ellie," She said softly. "And we all know what you two did," she said motioning to Nathan and Haley. "And we all know something happened between you two," She said motioning to Lucas and Brooke. "But you never to us what exactly happened." Peyton said waiting for a long overdue explanation.

Lucas stretched his arms over his head and smiled. "I called Brooke psychotic." He said simply and everyone laughed.

"No, really, what happened?" Haley asked.

"He's being serious." Brooke said. "He called me psychotic," She said and everyone stared in disbelief. "But he had every right to, I mean I did get a little angry and run out into the storm. He of course chased me and that's where the psychotic part and the real fun began." Brooke said. She smiled softly and closed her eyes remembering the night so well. She quickly got up and ran into another room.

"Wha- where'd you go?" Lucas called out.

Brooke emerged a minute later holding something in her hands, she walked over to Lucas and dropped the book in his lap.

"I told you I read it," she said.

Lucas took a moment to look at the book, and then he smiled brightly. He ran his hands over the cover of the worn book and then over the spine of the book where it said "Camus".

"What's going on?" Nathan asked.

"Well amidst the name calling and yelling in the pouring rain, Luke managed to give me—"  
"My second embarrassing speech and they were all for you, that's gotta mean something right?" Lucas said alluding to what he had said that night and everyone could tell.

"It meant everything," Brooke said sitting back down and cuddling closer to him. "And let's just say that after that we uh, went back to my place, and it was the most incredible night ever," Brooke said softly.

They all sat silently for a minute, remembering the past.

"What on earth did he say to you?" Nathan asked.

"Oh you know," Brooke said joking as if it was no big deal. "Just the reasons why he loved me."

"Like how you quote Camus," Lucas said holding up the book. "Even though I've never actually seen you read it."

"But now you know I do."

"Now I know."

"Okay," Peyton finally said. "Enough of the super cheesy stuff, let's get some fun stories back in."

"Hmmmm," Haley said. "What other crazy things did Brooke do that year?" She asked. "I mean, besides flashing the whole school on the time capsule."

Brooke turned bright red again. "Okay! First of all! that wasn't supposed to be opened for 50 years, second of all….okay I don't have any other excuses, but like I said! it wasn't supposed to be opened 49 years early!"

"Well I thought you looked beautiful," Lucas whispered in a husky tone.

"Stop using that line!" Haley yelled at him. Lucas just laughed.

"I don't know how you walked back into school the next day," Lucas said.

"Well we all know that Brooke perfected the fake smile," Nathan said a little more seriously. Hearing this Lucas cringed thinking about what had happened earlier.

Brooke immediately felt him tense up.

"You okay, Broody?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine," He lied. "We can talk about it later."

Brooke looked at him concerned, but she decided to drop it, not knowing what he was really thinking about.

"Okay! New subject." Haley said. "We should just skip that whole week," She said seriously and everyone knew what she was talking about. No one wanted to talk about the shooting and the memories it brought it.

"Well then I guess that leave's us at Rachel's cabin." Nathan said.

"Speaking of, where is the devil?" Haley asked.

"Ha-ha," Brooke said sarcastically. She's been in LA for the past few months taking care of some shoots for me. Besides, don't lie, we all had a great time that weekend."

"Yeah," Haley said. "Want to play 'I Never', Brooke?" She asked.

"And we've come full circle!" Peyton said.

"Okay!" Brooke finally said. "Enough! No more talking about that night ever! I'm serious, I'm going to kill Rachel for telling everyone that!"

"Oh come on Brooke, it was hilarious," Peyton said.

"No way, that was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life! In fact, I'm as of right now, I'm adding it to the list, we're never talking about that again!"

"Fine!" They all said.

There was another comfortable silence as they were all thinking about the past.

* * *

"So as amazing as this night has been, we all have to go," Jake said sadly. It was getting late and they were all tired.

"Yeah, as much as I love to pick on you, Brooke," Haley said. "We have an early flight tomorrow."

"Brooke was clearly disappointed, but they all said their goodbyes. Brooke and Lucas promised that they'd be back in Tree Hill soon. After everyone left, Lucas was cleaning up as Brooke talked to Carolyn more about where her company was right now, and where she wanted to go with it.

Lucas came back into the living room just as Brooke's phone started ringing. She looked at the caller ID and smiled.

"I'm sorry, but I should take this," She said and Carolyn nodded. Brooke stood and answered the phone. "Ryan?" She said as she walked out of the room.

Lucas sat down with Carolyn while they waited for Brooke to come back.

"Would you mind if I asked you some questions?" She asked Lucas.

"Not at all," He said, and they got to talking, mostly about Brooke.

About five minutes later Brooke came back it. It was getting late so Carolyn thanked Brooke and left.

* * *

"So what were you two talking about?" Brooke asked Lucas.

"You," He said.

"Oh yeah? What about me?"

"Well," He said teasing her. "I guess you're going to have to wait until the story comes out to read and find out."

Brooke was a little disappointed, but she didn't show it.

"Well two can play that game broody," She said as she walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a can of whipped cream. "I guess I won't need this anymore. It's a shame too; I mean we've waited so long and now…well now I guess we'll just be going to sleep," She said in a tantalizing, sexy, and teasing voice.

Lucas' eyes went wide when he saw what she was holding. He listened to her soft words and couldn't help himself anymore. He went over to her like he was going to kiss her, but instead he bent down and picked her up, throwing her over her shoulder.

"No way," he said. "We're gonna have some fun tonight," he said, carrying her into the bedroom. It didn't matter the Brooke had left the whipped cream in the kitchen; tonight wasn't about games for them. They had been with each other for two weeks already, a painful two weeks that took everything they had not to truly be with each other.

They had waited for over four years for this night to happen, so they took things slow. They rediscovered each other in a night full of passion.


	17. Somewhere Only We Know

Hey! I'm sorry that it's taken so long for me to update. I've been extremely busy lately. With that said, enjoy! and please review.

Title- "Somehwhere Only We Know" by Keane

* * *

The next morning….

Lucas lay in bed under the covers with Brooke next to him. As he opened his eyes he squinted against the light, but immediately relaxed when he felt Brooke next to him. He arm was still around her and he pulled her closer to him. She was still sleeping even though it was already late in the morning. He leaned into her hair and gave her a soft kiss, causing her to stir a little.

After a minute she turned around under his arm and opened her eyes to find Lucas' blue eyes staring back at her lovingly.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hi," he said back. After a minute of silence of smiling at each other, Lucas leaned in and gave her a quick but lingering kiss.

Brooke closed her eyes and smiled softly.

"What are you thinking about?" Lucas asked.

"Last night," She replied.

"Which part, last night was pretty eventful."

"Definitely the part after everyone left." Brooke said.

"It was pretty…" Lucas was searching for the right word.  
"Perfect?" Brooke said.

"Yeah, perfect." Lucas said and then kissed her again.

They laid there for a while with their eyes closed, just holding each other.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"What did you want to tell me last night? You said there was something you wanted to talk about, but you said that you would tell me later. What is it?"

Lucas took a deep breath. They seemed to be in the perfect place at that moment and he didn't want to ruin it.

"It was nothing, nothing important," he lied. He felt bad, but he really didn't know how to talk to her about it.

Brooke closed her eyes again, surprisingly satisfied with his answer.

After another minute of silence, Lucas couldn't hold it in anymore, he had to ask her.

"Brooke?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you happy?" he said plainly.

Brooke was a little taken aback by his question. She propped her head up on her elbow. "What do you mean?"

"Are you happy now? have you been happy since you left?"

Brooke thought for a moment which scarred Lucas a little.  
"Yeah, I am, and I was. It's just—I, it was a different kind, you know? I was successful and famous, and I was getting everything I ever wanted. I was proud of what I had accomplished. I was content. But I was never really happy,' Brooke said and then continued quietly. "At least not until you came back into my life."

Lucas' serious expression faded at her last few words.

"I am happy now Lucas, now that I'm with you again, I have everything I've ever wanted."

Lucas smiled softly. "Me too." He said. "I love you Brooke."

"I love you too," She said and then kissed him again. This kiss was longer than the previous two though; this one was deeper and it showed how genuinely happy they were to be with each other.

"Can we just stay in bed all day?" Brooke asked.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Lucas said as he put his arm around her waist again and pulled her even closer.

She curled up in his form and she fit as if she was meant to be there. Lucas held her tightly against himself.

"I love you," Brooke whispered, feeling the need to say it as much as she could.

"I love you too," Lucas said smiling softly as they lay together and eventually drifted back to sleep.

* * *

One week later….

"Ow!" Brooke groaned as she grabbed the side of her head. She had been sleeping for the past hour and a half on the plane, and the plane's landing caused her to hit her head and wake her up. When she realized where she was, she frantically looked around, but she just as quickly let out the breath she didn't know she was holding when she saw Lucas sitting next to her.

Lucas was halfway through the book he started when the plane took off, but he took a break when he saw Brooke wake up.

"You okay?" He asked as Brooke kept looking around.

"Yeah, just a bad dream and a bump on the head, "She said calmly.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked again.

"Please Broody, it doesn't even hurt," She said as her tiredness was taking over again.

"Not what I meant." He said, still concerned. "You haven't been sleeping well these past few days. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, they're just nightmares…they're just dreams. I'm fine," She said even though they both knew she was lying.

Brooke moved around in her seat and laid her head against Lucas' should. "I'm fine," she repeated as she placed a hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat. Brooke took a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief. "I'm fine," She said again as if she was trying to convince herself of that fact.

After a minute of silence Lucas lifted her head up so that he could face her.

"Brooke," He said quietly. "Pretty girl," He barely whispered as he looked at her. Though he thought that she looked just as beautiful as ever, he couldn't help but notice that she looked tired. "Please talk to me," he begged. "What's going on?"

Brooke hesitated. "I guess I'm just nervous," She said as she stared out the window and way from Lucas' penetrating eyes. Eventually she turned back to him and let out a small embarrassed smile.

"Why? Tree Hill's your home. There's nothing to be nervous about." He said trying to reassure her of something he didn't entirely know.

"I know that…its just—its just that I feel guilty. I left four years ago and never came back. I feel like I ran from my home." she said almost ashamed of her confession.

"Hey, hey, hey," He said placing a hand to her cheek and trying to calm her down. "You have no reason to feel guilty okay? No reason."

"But I just left and never came back," She said now trying to fight back tears that were threatening to form.

"Brooke, listen to me," Lucas said sternly but compassionately. "Everyone left."

"What are you talking about?"

"We all left," He said slowly. "I left for Charleston because I was ashamed of what I did, Jake left for Jenny twice, Haley left for the tour because she was scared, and Nathan left for High Flyers because he was angry. You left to chase after your dreams. We all left, Brooke. You have nothing to be ashamed of, okay? Everyone is just glad that you're coming home, because even though we all left, we all came back too."

Brooke was silent for a moment. Not only was she in awe Lucas kind words, but for the first time in any of their relationships, he really knew her. She could tell that he wasn't the same Lucas, he had grown into the man she had always hoped he would. He finally understood what she needed; he finally understood her.

"Thank you," She said so softly it was as though she mouthed the words. She leaned up to him and kissed him softly. "I love you," She whispered.

"I love you too," Lucas whispered back. "Now let's go home," Lucas said after they saw everyone stand in anticipation to get off the plane.

Lucas had called Nathan and asked him to leave the car at the airport for them, so once they got their bags, they were ready to go.

The car ride into Tree Hill was mostly silent except for the occasional comment and the song that was playing on the radio. It wasn't an awkward silence though, it was a comfortable one.

"Welcome to Tree Hill," Brooke said as she read the sign that marked their entrance into the town.

"Welcome home," Lucas corrected her as he took her hand in hers as they drove home.


	18. Sketches of a Twenty Something Life

Hey Everyone! Thanks for being so patient waiting for this chapter. Please review when you're finished. Enjoy!

Title- "Sketches (Twenty Something Life)" - by La Rocca

* * *

The next day outside the mall… 

"Brooke!"

Brooke turned around to see Haley getting out of her car.

"Hey!" she said as she walked up to Haley and hugged her.

"So how was your first night back?" Haley asked.

"It was nice to be back," Brooke said. "What about you? What have you been doing since last week?"

Haley took a deep breath and sighed as they walked into the mall.

"Just a lot of thinking," Haley mumbled.

"Bout what?" Brooke asked as she passed the windows of the stores she used to love.

"It's nothing," Haley said trying to change the subject.

"You may be smart Hales, but you're a bad liar," Brooke said as they made their way into a store.

"You're right." Haley admitted.

"Let me guess," Brooke stopped Haley. "You don't know what to do with your life," Brooke said as if it was no big deal.

"I hate how you know me so well," Haley said. "But, yes, I don't know what to do." Haley said. After hesitating she finally spoke again. "I don't know if I should look into music again, because as much as I loved it, it'll be even harder now. Should I teach? I've always wanted to, but is now the right time? Or should I just be a mom for a while? No school or job to worry about, just Jamie."

"Why don't you try talking to Nathan about this? You know, your husband," Brooke said.

"I have, and every time I do he just tells me to do whatever I want, the only problem is, I don't know what I want!"

"Okayyyy," Brooke said. "You need to relax. Why don't you just give yourself the summer to relax and think about what you really want, and then you can make a decision."

"That's way too simple," Haley said.

"I know, and that's why it'll work." Brooke said. "Unless you want to talk about it now?"

"No thanks!" Haley said as they walked out of the store and throughout the mall again.

* * *

After what seemed like hours Haley finally managed to pull Brooke out of her favorite lingerie store. 

"Remind me why you bought so many things in there?" Haley asked, clearly run down. She was "out of shape" according to Brooke's shopping standards.

"Because," Brooke started matter of factly. "Lucas has been so incredible lately that I figured I should reward him."

"Okay, a little too much information there," Haley said.

"Puh-lease," Brooke fought back in the same bubbly high school manor that she used to. "Like I can't figure out what you and tutor husband do when Jamie's not around."

"Brooke!" Haley tried not to scream. "God," she continued more calmly. "And I had thought that you had grown out of that."

Brooke just shrugged sheepishly.

"Anyway," Haley continued. "You don't really need all that," she said pointing to the bags of lingerie. "You do remember that you're staying with Karen, right?"

Brooke cheery manor quickly disappeared.

Haley couldn't help but laugh at Brooke's realization.

"Don't worry," Haley comforted her. "I'm sure Lucas has something up his sleeve," she teased.

Brooke clearly didn't know what Haley was talking about, but she was definitely curious now.

"Brooke!" Haley yelled as they continued to walk through the mall sipping their iced coffees.

"What?" Brooke asked concerned.

Haley quickly ran over to a news stand and paid for a magazine and then came back and shoved it in Brooke's face.

"You failed to mention that this came out today," she said handing the copy of Vanity Fair over to Brooke.

"Sorry," Brooke mumbled as they sat down at a table at Starbucks.

"Well what does it say?" Haley asked as Brooke just stared at herself on the magazine cover. Even though she looked stunning, but couldn't help but feel anxious the article and the pictures.

"I don't know," Brooke admitted.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I haven't read it yet," Brooke said quietly. Haley stared at her in disbelief. "This is the first article I've been nervous about since my very first one came out. I mean, what if—"

"Well it's a little late for 'what if's.'"

Brooke sighed and opened up the magazine, flipping through the pages until she found her five page exposé.

She smiled brightly at the pictures that were featured. One from her shoot that was more than sexy, one from her shoot as she was in Lucas' arms as they smiled as each other, and they even managed to get a picture of the whole gang from their high school days.

Brooke was so absorbed with staring at the pictures that she didn't even realize when Haley got up to buy her own copy. When she sat back down, they both began to read the article.

_"Welcome to a whole new side of Brooke Davis. At first glance, the creator of Clothes Over Bros' is anything but a young-twenty-something; she's a successful, powerful, and famous fashion designer. But really, she's all that and more. _

_We all know her when she's calm, composed, and serious. Not anymore. Brooke Davis let her guard down, and the person whom she showed me is down to earth, fun, and well, a little wild. A few bottles of wine and a whole lot of memories can bring out a side of this powerhouse that few people will ever see. _

_Last weekend I was given the shock of my professional career; a famously guarded celebrity was handing me her past. Brooke gave me an exclusive like no other. She literally brought her past (in the form of her five closest friends) to me. _

_Meet Brooke Davis; 22 years old, born in a small coastal North Carolina town named Tree Hill. In high school she was wealthy, beautiful, captain of the cheerleaders, and the most popular girl in school. Sounds like the perfect cliché, right? Wrong. The hard partying teenager? That was the first two years of high school, but her friends were quick to point out that in the second two years she had changed more than anyone thought possible. She became student council president, responsible, independent, and most important she 'let herself learn how to love and be loved.'_

_In the past month, Brooke has made countless headlines for her very public and romantic arguments and eventual reconciliation with Lucas Scott, the best selling author whose first book (filled with outrageous yet 100 true drama that is now being made into a movie) chronicles their time at Tree Hill High. Why is that important? Well because according to the two, the night they met in their junior year was the night that 'it all changed'. That was the night when Brooke Davis showed up in his backseat naked (but according to her, she was only partially naked because she had mittens on). After that, things only get more crazy…_

The article continued with the memories that they all shared, demonstrating the beyond crazy and romantic lives of the group. The memories showed a side of Brooke Davis that close to no one knew existed. They got to see how she got to where she was today. The article only talked a little about Clothes Over Bros. It didn't matter though, because the memories and everyone's descriptions of her were incredible in their own right. Eventually Brooke got to the part where Lucas was talking to the reporter alone.

_"She's really the most incredible person I know," Lucas spoke fondly of her, a gleeful smile crossing his face every time he thought of her. "Most people don't realize that the person she had become is so incredible because they don't really know what she's gone through. She's shockingly selfless, loyal, caring, and mature. Yet at the same time she's wild; spontaneous, and…and cheery. She doesn't let a lot of people know the real side of her because she's afraid of getting hurt, but if she does let you in, you'll be nothing short of impressed by woman she's become."_

_The girl who they describe as being famously confident about herself is also more modest than you would think. She jokes that she doesn't understand why people say she's brilliant in her own right, claiming 'It's a miracle that graduated considering my ordeal in calculus. I'm not brilliant; I'm just doing what I love."_

_And what does Brooke Davis love? Her fashion, her friends, and Lucas Scott. And they love her back. They love a girl that until today, no one knew about; a girl that surprises anyone she meets. _

_But remember, after everything she's accomplished and been through, she's still only twenty-two and just out to have a little fun._

"Wow," Brooke managed to choke out after finishing the article.

"Yeah," Haley added, finishing about the same time that Brooke did. "No wonder you wanted to reward Lucas, what he said was incredible."

Brooke nodded a smile beginning to form on her face. She had been terrified to read the article, but it turned out well, or so she thought. Now all she had to wait for was to see what the world thought about the real Brooke Davis.

A sly smile crossed Haley's face.

"What?" Brooke asked.

Haley checked her watch one last time.

"We'll talk more about this later, but right now, we have to go."

"Go where?" Brooke asked as they gathered their stuff and headed out to the cars.

"You'll see," Haley said, not giving up any information. "Just follow me."

* * *

"Where are we?" Brooke asked as she walked up Haley's car window. Brooke had just followed a very mischievous Haley to a house on the beach.

"Just go inside and call me later," Haley said. She winked, rolled up her window, and drove away, leaving a confused and slightly annoyed Brooke to wander into the house.

The house was big and beautiful and peaceful; modern yet homey; it was secluded, but not too far away from everything.

Brooke entered and began to walk around, noticing that there was no furniture anywhere. "Hello?" she called out. "Luke?" She asked when she turned a corner and saw him sitting on the window sill typing on his blackberry.

"Hey," he said looking up at her with a smile on his face.

"What are we doing here?" Brooke asked, still looking around the house.

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah," Brooke said as she admired the different rooms and then joined Lucas at the large windows that looked out over the ocean.

"Do you love it?"

"Yeah, actually," Brooke said. "It's beautiful."

"I'm glad you think so, cause it's ours." Lucas said nonchalantly.

"Ye—I'm sorry, what?" Brooke was stunned and trying to figure out if she had heard him correctly.

Lucas took a deep breath, sat back down at the window sill and looked out the window.

"You know I used to pass this house all the time?" Lucas asked rhetorically. "Whenever I needed to just get away I would take these really long runs. I would be thinking about you the whole time, too," Lucas said, laughing inwardly at how hopelessly in love with Brooke he's been. "And I would run down the beach, and I would pass this house every time. There was something about it; something that caught my eye; something that I loved about it. I could imagine my life with you in this house, so a few days ago when Haley told me that the house had been put up for sale, I knew that it was…..fate."

"Fate?" Brooke questioned.

"Fate." Lucas repeated. "Like everything I've ever wanted is coming together perfectly," he smiled looking up at her. "So what do you think?"

Brooke thought for a moment.

"I think I'm gonna need to decorate," Brooke smiled, looking around the empty house.

Lucas smiled, knowing he had her approval. He stood and hugged her, picking her up and spinning her around.

"I do have a few questions though," Brooke said, pulling away with a more serious look on her face. "This was a pretty gutsy move, I mean, what if I didn't like it?"

"Well I-uh, um…I don't know." Lucas admitted. "But it's a good thing you do like it, cause it's our home now."

"Yeah," Brooke said smiling and relaxing back in his arms. "It's our home"

* * *

That night…

"Okay," Brooke said sitting down on the porch swing on the back porch with Lucas. "This is perfect," she said as they looked out over the water.

"Yeah, yeah it is," Lucas agreed.

"It's incredible isn't it?" Brooke said absentmindedly.

"What is?" Lucas asked, not sure if she was referring to the house, the view, or something else.

"The fact that we're all 22 years old and we've accomplished so much. I mean we all have our careers and families, and new houses. It's pretty incredible that it hasn't even been 5 years since we've graduated from high school."

"Yeah, it is pretty incredible," Lucas agreed.

"So about what you said in the interview…" Brooke began.

"So you read it today?"

"Yeah," Brooke said softly. "Thank you."

"For what? I was just saying the truth."

"Still," Brooke said. "It meant a lot to me."

"Well you mean a lot to me." Lucas said with a cheesy smile on his face.

"You really don't know how to turn of the corniness, do you?"

"No, it's a gift and a curse," Lucas joked as he stretched his arms back behind his head.

"Tired?"

"Aren't you?" Lucas asked. "I'm exhausted. A full day of that could wear anyone out."

"Well it was worth it," Brooke said. "I mean now we have lots of stuff here like food and a bed to sleep in."

"Ahh," Lucas cut in. "I like that bed."

"I'm glad you do," Brooke smiled. "Because we're going to be spending a lot of time in it," she winked over to him.

"You mean when you're not dragging me out all day to get the rest of the stuff we need."

"Well if you want I can go alone," Brooke sighed. "But then you won't have a say in anything I get."

"Would I have a say in it anyway?" Lucas countered.

"Mayyybe," Brooke laughed a little. "It depends."

"On what?" Lucas asked, inching closer to Brooke.

"On whether or not I'm in a good mood."

"And how would I get you in a good mood?" Lucas asked, still making his way even closer to Brooke so that she could feel his breath on her neck.

"Remember that bed?"

Lucas nodded and began to kiss her neck softly causing Brooke to moan. That was all Lucas needed; he wrapped one arm around her waist and the other under her legs and picked her up and brought her inside.

Neither said a word, they were too busy kissing and taking off each other's clothes as the made their way upstairs to their bed in their new home.

* * *

"Morning, Pretty Girl," Lucas whispered as he watched Brooke open her eyes.

"Morning," She mumbled and then scooted closer to him, trying to go back to sleep.

"Tired?" Lucas asked.

"What time is it? You know you kept me up late last night," Brooke laughed a little as she tried to sound annoyed.

"It's pretty late, and if I remember correctly, you—"

"Oh, trust me. I remember," Brooke smiled up at him.

Lucas smiled and kissed Brooke on the forehead softly. He couldn't help but to begin trailing kisses down her jaw line to the sensitive spot behind her ear.

"Mmmm," Brooke moaned into his ear. "You seem to be read for round three," Brooke said cheerfully as Lucas propped himself over Brooke.

"Defin—" Lucas couldn't even finish the word before he was interrupted by the doorbell. "You have got to be kidding me."

Brooke just laughed a little. "I didn't even know that we had a doorbell yet."

"Me either." Lucas grumbled.

"Go put some clothes on, Broody," Brooke said and then kissed him softly on the lips. "It's probably Haley." Brooke said as she scrambled out from under him.

"I love you," Brooke said as she grabbed a shirt and began to leave.

"I love you too," Lucas said before he collapsed onto the bed and mumbled something into the pillow, causing Brooke to laugh at him as she went down stairs.

* * *

Well that's it! I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave reviews (and thank you to those who have been leaving reviews). I'll try to update again soon. 


	19. Dancing in the Moonlight

Hey everyone!!!

Thank you so much to everyone who left reviews. Please keep leaving them, I love them all.

Title- "Dancing in the Moonlight" - by Robbie Williams (i suggest listening to this song as you read the last part of the chapter)

Enjoy!

* * *

Brooke and Lucas had spent most of the summer in Tree Hill; the only exceptions were weekend trips to New York. Even though they were both busy at work within their new house, they spent most of their time together along the beach, at the Rivercourt, or another one of their favorite spots around the town.

Granted they had some little stupid arguments along the way, but they were truly happy; taking each day and savoring it with each other, knowing what it was like to spend 4 years apart.

"Nathan?" Lucas asked into his cell phone. "Yeah, yeah, we're here," Lucas said as he walked over to the car in the airport parking lot. Brooke was watching him intently because he had been jumpy and nervous all day. "Is everything going okay?" Lucas asked into the phone. "Thanks so much, yeah I'll see you tomorrow, bye."

"What was that?" Brooke asked as they got into the car.

"Nothing really," Lucas _tried_ to reply nonchalantly.

"Okayyyy," Brooke said, clearly not believing him but dropping it anyway.

"So how'd you enjoy New York?" Lucas asked trying to change the subject.

They had spent the work weak up in the city, taking care of various work issues. Brooke's issue of Vanity Fair was one of the highest selling issues in years, making her even more famous than she already was. A new line was in high demand from Brooke, and so was Lucas' next book. Lucas was allowed to put his book on hold though because he was starting to meet with producers and directors about making the movie.

"It was great," Brooke said. "I got so much done, thank god. If I didn't, I don't think I would be able to handle all of the questions tomorrow night."

"You excited for that?" Lucas asked, trying to keep his eyes on the road, but he could help but to glance over at Brooke who was staring happily out the window.

"Yeah I am," Brooke said enthusiastically. Brooke had decided that this labor day weekend they were going to throw a huge party at their house. Tons of people were coming. Not only their friends, but people they worked with and other celebrities that Brooke was friends with. It was going to be the part of the summer.

"I just can't wait to see everyone tomorrow morning!" Brooke squealed. Saturday morning before the party, Rachel, Bevin, Skillz, Mouth, Peyton and Jake were all coming in. Though Brooke had seen Peyton often that summer, lately they had been spending most of their time in Savannah, but they were coming back to Tree Hill starting this weekend.

"Yeah," Lucas said smiling at her excitement. "Me too."

"So," Brooke began in her bubbly tone that Lucas loved. "The caterers and all that stuff are coming over at like 1 tomorrow, people should start showing up around 6:30, and um…" Brooke trailed off.

"It's going to be great," Lucas said placing a hand over hers. "Just relax."

* * *

When they pulled up into the driveway, Lucas smiled to himself. He was jumping out of his skin with nervousness, but somehow he couldn't help but smile.

"Why don't you go inside," Lucas suggested. "I'll get our stuff."

"Okay," Brooke said, jumping out of the car, getting away before Lucas could try to ask her to help him

She practically skipped in the door and into the house.

"Luke!" Lucas could hear her faintly call from inside.

Lucas chuckled a little to himself. He set the bags down in the foyer, checked his pant pocket, and went off to find Brooke.

With Nathan's help, Lucas had arranged probably one of the most romantic gestures he had ever come up with. Starting in the foyer there was a trail of hundreds red, white, and pink rose petals that were surrounded by small candles. The trail let to the large bay windows the looked out over the ocean.

"Luke," Brooke called again softly this time, as she looked around, amazed by everything.

"Pretty Girl," Lucas whispered as he approached her nervously but somehow confidently.

"Lu—"

"Shh," he quieted her while taking her hands. "Brooke, I love you more than anything in the world. It's always been you; through everything, the drama and…and everything. We've spent too much time apart. All I want to spend the rest of my life with you; I want to start a family with you. You're my dream come true," Lucas said, his heart pounding and his smile getting brighter with every word. He slid the small ring box out of his pocket and got down on one knee. "Brooke Davis, will you marry me?"

Brooke was stunned to say the least. It was perfect, everything about it was perfect. She could even feel the tears of happiness begin to roll down her cheeks.

Brooke nodded and then Brooke into a huge dimpled smile. "Yes," she said.

In that moment, Lucas thought he couldn't be happier. He slid the large diamond ring on to Brooke's finger and then stood. He still had her hands in his, so he pulled her closer and placed a gentle and loving kiss on her lips.

When they broke apart, they both couldn't stop smiling.

"I love you," Lucas whispered.

"I love you too."

Lucas wrapped his arms around Brooke's waist and picked her up, swinging her around in pure happiness.

* * *

The next morning…

"Lucassss," Brooke whispered as she stared at Lucas' closed eyelids. "Luuuucas," She whispered a little louder this time as she brushed her hand over his face.

He moved slightly at her touch and slowly opened his eyes.

"Morning Pretty Girl," Lucas whispered, still trying to adjust to the light.

"Morning _fiancé_," Brooke smiled at her words.

"It feels good to hear you say that," Lucas said wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer.

"It feels good to say it," Brooke countered.

Lucas smiled, remembering those words from long ago. He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

"I wish we could stay like this forever," Brooke said.

"Me too." Lucas said. "Speaking of, what time is it?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know, I just woke up too." Brooke said, leaning over him to look at the clock on his dresser. "Oh shit!" she yelled.

"What?" Lucas asked, suddenly not so tired and more worried.

"Its 11:10!" she yelled.

"Annnnd?" Lucas asked. "We slept late, so what? It was nice."

"It _was_ nice. But now we're going to be _late!_" Brooke stressed. "We're supposed to meet everyone at the café in twenty minutes." Brooke said. All of their friends were flying in today, and Brooke promised that they would all get together when they got in.

"Oh," Lucas said. "Right." he slumped back into his pillow. "Can't we just skip lunch and stay here like this?" he asked with a pseudo innocent tone.

"I wish," Brooke said as she got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. "I'm gonna take a quick shower," she said as she hurried to the bathroom. She stopped short at the door and turned around. "Wanna join me?" she asked in a sultry and raspy voice.

Lucas shot up and jumped out of the bed. "Is that even a real question?" he asked with a smirk, taking her hand and pulling her into the bathroom.

* * *

"Hey guys," Brooke said as she and Lucas entered the café 40 minutes later.

"It's about time!" Peyton said from the table where everyone was sitting at. "What were you guys doing?" Peyton asked and then saw the smirk and exchange lovers' glances. "You know what, don't answer that."

Brooke smirked and started to walk over to the table.

"Wait!" Rachel forcefully yelled. Brooke froze at her words. "Lift up your hand," Rachel said slowly and steadily.

Brooke blushed and let a small smile cross her lips; she knew exactly what Rachel had just spotted.

Rachel got up from the table and walked over to Brooke and Lucas. She took Brooke's hand and examined the new, large, and beautiful engagement ring.

"And when did this happen?" Rachel asked.

"Last night," Brooke replied as if it was no big deal; that was the only tone that would make Rachel talk more about something.

Rachel showed Brooke's hand to everyone else, who immediately jumped up and ran over to them.

"Whoa!" Haley said. "Is this what you were setting up for him?" Haley asked Nathan who in turn just nodded with a small grin on his face.

'Congratulations' came from everyone. They were all genuinely happy to see Brooke and Lucas finally making a life together.

They spent the next hour talking and catching up on the events of the summer. Brooke talked to Rachel a few times a week for work stuff and they were still really close, so the only people that had really drifted away were Mouth, Skillz, and Bevin.

They caught up so much that by the time that lunch ended, it seemed as if no time at all had passed.

All the girls headed back to Brooke and Lucas' place to help set up for the party while the guys all went to the Rivercourt for a few games before they had to get ready for that night.

* * *

The party was going smoothly. This really was the party of the year. Everyone showed up (mainly for Brooke, but there were still a lot of people there for Lucas).

There was a dance floor set up outside, one of the hottest New York DJs flew in, there were drinks flowing, and everyone was having a good time.

"Is this on?" Brooke asked, not realizing that the microphone was actually on and she now had everyone's attention. Lucas just laughed a little at her, earning him a playful punch on the arm.

They were standing in front of the DJ's tables. Lucas' arm was carelessly but lovingly draped over Brooke's shoulders as she held the microphone in her hands.

"Hey everyone," Brooke said in her usual cheery manor. "My fiancé and i—" Brooke stopped short for a second. _Dammit!_ she thought. She didn't mean to let it slip. Granted she was wearing her ring, but nobody seemed to notice. It wasn't that she was ashamed or anything, she felt the opposite in face; it was just that they wanted to keep it private for a little bit. She didn't mean to tell everyone like that, but she just loved to call him her fiancé. "Luke and I," she quickly kept up her speech hoping that even thought everyone was thinking _Did she just say engaged?_ nobody would make too big of a deal about it. "We wanted to thank everyone for coming." Brooke thanked all the necessary people, made small jokes, and so forth, proving to all of her friends how incredibly business savvy she had become in the four years away from Tree Hill. "Anyway," Brooke said. "Welcome to Tree Hill. This is are home; this is how we all became who we are today a—" Brooke was cut off when Peyton stepped to the booth behind her and hit a few buttons. Brooke was immediately impressed by Peyton's sudden forwardness.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's a bit tired of Brookie's ramblings," Peyton said and everyone laughed a little. "But why don't we see if we can't bring out one of my favorite parts of her," Peyton smiled slyly. She hit one more button and Robbie William's 'Dancing in the Moonlight' started playing.

_We get it on most every night  
When that moon is big and bright  
Its a supernatural delight  
Everybodys dancing in the moonlight _

Brooke couldn't help but to laugh, remembering how she and Peyton used to spend countless nights dancing to that song until they collapsed on Peyton's bed.

Before she knew what was really happening, Rachel had come over and practically dragged Brooke back to the dance floor where Bevin, Haley, and Peyton were now waiting. And just like the old Brooke Davis, the four years older and much more mature Brooke Davis couldn't help but to let loose and dance with her friends. __

Everybody here is out of sight  
They dont bark and they dont bite  
They keep things loose they keep it tight  
Everybodys dancing in the moonlight

The guys were now all together at the edge of the dance floor, watching with bright smiles as they saw the girls dancing like there were in high school again. And, just like the sparkle classic four years ago, the guys all marched right onto the dance floor to join them much to the surprise of everyone else who couldn't believe that _the _Brooke Davis was acting that fun and spontaneous.

_  
Dancing in the moonlight  
Everybodys feeling warm and bright  
Its such a fine and natural sight  
Everybodys dancing in the moonlight_

As soon as Lucas got to Brooke, he snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her close. Brooke immediately turned around to face him and he rested his forehead against hers.

"Having fun?" he asked.

Brooke flashed him a huge dimpled smile. "Yeah," she got out between the laughs as she caught a glimpse of Nathan trying to dance.

"I love you," Lucas whispered.

"I love you too," Brooke whispered back right before he placed a soft and quick kiss on her lips. Even now, a quick kiss like that still sent electricity running through them.

Lucas took one of Brooke's hands and before she knew it, he was spinning her around and they were dancing together.

_  
We like our fun and we never fight  
You cant dance and stay uptight  
Its a supernatural delight  
Everybody was dancing in the moonlight _

After the initial shock of their fun had worn off to everyone else, the other guests had begun to join them on the dance floor. They energy from the gang was really rubbing off on everyone.

They were all truly happy; dancing with their friends and the one's they loved most, letting loose and being a bunch of young twenty-somethings at an end of summer beach party just the way they had done 4 years ago. It was like the perfect moment; no drama, just laughs, dancing, and genuine fun.

It was the perfect way to end a summer that had changed all of their lives.__

Dancing in the moonlight  
Everybodys feeling warm and bright  
Its such a fine and natural sight  
Everybodys dancing in the moonlight

We get in on most every night  
And when that moon is big and bright  
Its a supernatural delight  
Everybodys dancing in the moonlight

Dancing in the moonlight  
Everybodys feeling warm and bright  
Its such a fine and natural sight  
Everybodys dancing in the moonlight

* * *

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Unfortunately this is the last chapter. it just seemed like a really good place to end the story.

even though its over, please leave reviews!

Thanks so much for reading

-allie


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